About the Advocacy and Leadership Campaign
With increasing rates of HIV infection in the Caribbean region and the number of children affected by HIV and AIDS, there is an urgent need for the education sector to strengthen its overall response to the epidemic. The response of Education is critical–for HIV and AIDS is not just a health problem, it is deeply rooted in the cultural, economic and societal factors of any country.
UNESCO Office for the Caribbean and Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) are pleased to partner on this “Advocacy and Leadership Campaign to Advance the Education Sector Response to HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean.”
EDC's HHD and UNESCO's Office for the Caribbean recently launched the new “Campaign on Advocacy and Leadership to Advance the Caribbean Education Sector Response to HIV/AIDS” in Trinidad and Tobago. Pictured are Cheryl Vince Whitman, Director of HHD, and Dr. Matsuura, Director General, UNESCO. ©EDC Staff photo
The initiative was launched on February 16, 2005 in Trinidad and Tobago in the presence of Dr. Matsuura, Director General, UNESCO, Honourable Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education for Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Ramroop and Mme Gosselin, Director, UNESCO Office for the Caribbean.
Deepening the education sector response is critical for many reasons. For example:
- Education sector leaders need to consider the impact of HIV and AIDS on schools, teachers and society and set norms for tolerance, and for communicating essential information and skills;
- Education sector policies need to be accepting of teachers and students who are HIV positive, combat stigma and discrimination. Beyond the traditional curriculum, in the hallways and in the school yard, schools transmit societal values of tolerance;
- Schools are workplaces for thousands of staff who need essential information, such as where to access services;
- Schools need strategies for young people to succeed, as school success is a major protective factor. Schools also need to be able to identify and refer young children at greatest risk for mental health counselling and other services, thereby reducing the likelihood of their involvement with drugs and other self-destructive behaviours.
- Schools are gathering places in the community and can serve as the major coordinating mechanism with other sectors; they can offer ways for parents and community leaders to come together to address social problems.
Goals of the Campaign
This advocacy and leadership campaign aims to pave the way to strengthening the education sector response to promoting health across the Caribbean region, especially to address the HIV and AIDS epidemic. The goals of the campaign are to:
- Advocate for a comprehensive approach to health promotion and the mitigation of the impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the education sector;
- Create a demand within the formal and informal education sector for the technical know-how and financial resources for such an approach to be realised;
- Advance policies and programmes that protect the lives of students, their teachers, and managers throughout the sector;
- Promote the inclusion of persons living with HIV
Background and Rationale for the Campaign
Several initiatives within the Caribbean region and greater global community have converged to call for this Campaign to strengthen the education sector’s response to HIV/AIDS. Working in conjunction with Caribbean partners, led by CARICOM, UNICEF, and with UNESCO, PAHO, UNFPA, UWI and CAPNET, EDC’s Health and Human Development Programs Division has facilitated efforts to advance accomplishments in Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) and HIV/AIDS. This approach to teaching health education in the region has a long, successful tradition, dating back 15 years. In the fall of 2005, a major outcome of our work under this initiative was the creation of the first Caribbean Regional Curriculum Framework for Health and Family Life Education, that addressed four major themes: Sexuality and Sexual Health including HIV/AIDS, Self and Inter-Personal Relationships, Eating and Fitness, and Managing Environment. The Framework presents learning objectives, standards for teaching, desired student outcomes, sample lessons, and resource materials. Our focus now rests on better implementing these standards in order to guage the effectiveness of this Campaign. A four-country study of the Framework implementation process is underway in Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, and Antigua.
Further, the completion and publication of Professors Kelly and Bain’s book Education and HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, launched in October 2004, describes the threat to the education system in the region, the powerful role this system can play, and, to do so, the ways in which the education sector response needs to be strengthened. At the global level, the UNAIDS InterAgency Task Team on Education (IATT), convened by UNESCO, has produced many policy documents and tools to guide a more comprehensive education sector response (for more information, visit http://portal.unesco.org/). Yet, in nations around the world and in the Caribbean, few ministries of education have implemented this broad approach.
In March 2004, the UNAIDS Committee of Co-sponsoring Organizations decided to “jointly launch a world-wide prevention education effort for an AIDS-free generation by 2015, thereby complementing current initiatives to accelerate access to treatment and bolstering efforts to achieve the targets contained within the Declaration of Commitment and the Millennium Development Goals. UNESCO is coordinating the development of this Initiative, which will draw upon the expertise and experience of all cosponsors, and will work to assess gaps and fill needs on a country-by-country basis. The Global Initiative on HIV/AIDS and Education aims to support countries as they develop comprehensive education sector-based responses to HIV/AIDS, with a focus on children and young people, especially those who are most vulnerable.”
The “Advocacy and Leadership Campaign to Advance the Education Sector Response to HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean” is in direct response to the urgent needs that have become apparent through these many efforts.