Educate Girls, Fight AIDS

This brief discusses the relationship between the education of girls and prevention of HIV by describing the status of the situation, presenting innovative programmes that achieve results, and discussing remaining obstacles. According to the publication, evidence shows that getting and keeping young
people in school, particularly girls, dramatically lowers their vulnerability to HIV. Attending primary school makes young people significantly less likely to contract HIV. When young people stay in school through the secondary level, education’s protective effect against HIV is even more pronounced. This is especially true for girls who, with each additional year
of education, gain greater independence, are better equipped to make decisions affecting their sexual
lives, and have higher income earning potential.

At the same time HIV/AIDS is increasing the number of children deprived of education. In AIDS-affected households and communities, the economic and social burden of AIDS often forces children,
especially girls, to drop out of school, or to never attend. Faced with these economic demands and
without the benefit of the knowledge, skills, and opportunities gained from a completed education, out-of-school girls are often compelled to engage in risky transactional sex.

The publication proposes that the effectiveness of education as an HIV prevention strategy rests on
two key components: (1) greater access to schooling and (2) using schools as a natural place to reach young people with AIDS education and life skills training.

Actions Schools Can Take

• Provide teachers with the curricula, materials, and training opportunities they need to effectively teach AIDS education in schools;
• Create safe and supportive learning environments for students, especially girls, by instituting policies of zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and implementing clear
  guidelines for responding to such allegations;
• Support young people in contributing to their education and communities; and
• Organise parent-teacher groups or community committees to make schools safer and more welcoming for girls and to support the importance of AIDS education for young people.

Actions National Governments Can Take

• Address the need for AIDS education in schools as part of national education strategies and the need for increased access to education as part of national AIDS
  strategies;
• Eliminate school fees and related costs, and provide support services, including schoolfeeding programmes, to increase attendance;
• Develop curricula for AIDS education in schools and policies to address sexual exploitation in schools, and support their national implementation;
• Gather accurate data on school enrollment and retention rates for both boys and girls; and
• Urge all international donors to support the linkage between AIDS and education, both in the programmes they fund and in the technical assistance they provide.

Actions International Partners Can Take

• Mobilise education resources to help national governments eliminate school fees and related costs, expand teacher recruitment and training, and accelerate progress
  toward the rapid realisation of gender equity in education, including through support for the Education for All – Fast Track Initiative;
• Mobilise AIDS resources to help national governments to: implement comprehensive age-appropriate AIDS education in the schools; develop new evidence-based and gender-sensitive AIDS curricula, which include interventions that make the “ABC” (Abstinence, Be Faithful, and Condom Use) prevention approach work for women and
  girls; provide HIV-related counseling, referral services, and treatment options for students and teachers; and reduce stigma and discrimination;
• Maximise coordination between AIDS and education resources and remove any barriers to linking or integrating these essential services; and
• Gather data and monitor access for girls to both education and AIDS services at the global level and in the AIDS programmes international donors fund.

Click here to access a related peer-reviewed summary on the Health e Communication website, and to participate in peer review.