Quality Education and HIV and AIDS

From the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Education, this publication presents a framework for quality education that demonstrates how education systems can and must change in their analysis and conduct in relation to HIV and AIDS. It summarises the 10 dimensions of the framework, considers how HIV and AIDS manifests itself in relation to these quality dimensions and summarises some practical applications of how education has responded and can respond to the pandemic from a quality perspective. A more detailed annex to the paper provides evidence on the manifestations of the pandemic on education systems, and how systems have responded in practical ways. Some general conclusions are drawn and a final section promotes some practical and strategic actions in support of quality education that reflects and responds to HIV and AIDS.

The UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Education was created in 2002 to support accelerated and improved education sector responses to HIV and AIDS. It is convened by UNESCO. It has as specific objectives to promote and support good practices in the education sector in relation to HIV and AIDS and to encourage alignment and harmonisation within and across agencies to support global and country-level actions. The IATT seeks to achieve these objectives by: strengthening the evidence base and disseminating findings to inform decision-making and strategy development; encouraging information and materials exchange; working jointly to bridge education and AIDS communities; and ensuring a stronger education sector response to HIV and AIDS.