IATT on Education Symposium on the Education Sector Engagement with the AIDS and Aid Architecture at Country-level

From 17-11-2008 to 19-11-2008 (Switzerland) 

The IATT held its 13th annual meeting in Geneva, 17-19 November 2008, hosted by the UNAIDS Secretariat. Per standard practice, the biannual meeting included a 2-day meeting of its membership and a one day Symposium on a topic selected by the host.

The Symposium of the November meeting focused on Education sector engagement with the AIDS and aid architecture at the country level.

According to UNAIDS, only 40 percent boys and 38 percent of girls aged 15-24 have comprehensive HIV information, nearly 30 years into the epidemic. The education sector has a key role to play in effective prevention, care and support, but can only do so with adequate funding.

The Symposium provided participants an opportunity to examine several aspects of the funding of the education sector response to HIV, focusing on collaboration with the Global Fund given (a) its presence in Geneva and (b) the significant levels of funding it provides.

The meeting was opened by Michel Sidibe, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS (who gave the keynote address, drawing also on the speech submitted by the Minister of Education of Mexico, who was unable to attend) and Helen Evans, Deputy Executive Director of the Global Fund.

The programme included presentations from Namibia (Ministry of Education), Haiti (civil society) and Belarus (UNDP), which highlighted the experience of different stakeholders, in countries with very different educational structures and epidemiology, in engaging with the Global Fund and gave rise to considerable discussion.

Rafut Atun, the Director of the Strategy, Policy and Performance Cluster of the Global Fund made a presentation on the implications for the education sector of the Fund’s planned transition to funding of national HIV strategic plans.

Other presentations included: one on PEPFAR from Michelle Maloney-Kitts, the Assistant Coordinator in the office of the US Global AIDS Coordinator, another one from Don Bundy on funding education and health in Africa, and an intervention from Pradeep Kakkatil from the Technical Support Division of the UNAIDS Secretariat.

Overall, there was significant engagement with the Global Fund, which opens the possibility of supporting national education ministries to participate more actively in the development of national plans, including elaborating more comprehensive education sector responses and, potentially, accessing the funding necessary to implement them.

Click here to access the symposium report.

For copies of the presentation, please contact info-iatt@unesco.org