This Sourcebook aims to support efforts by countries to strengthen the role of the education sector in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. It was developed in response to numerous requests for a simple forum to help countries share their practical experiences of designing and implementing programs that are targeted at school-age children. The Sourcebook seeks to fulfill this role by providing concise summaries of programs, using a standard format that highlights the main elements of the programs and makes it easier to compare the programs with each other. "A Sourcebook of HIV/AIDS Prevention Programs, 2nd Edition" documents 13 education based HIV/AIDS prevention programs targeting children and youth from 7 sub-Saharan African countries. It is sponsored by UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNFPA, DFID, USAID, Ireland Aid and the World Bank. The Sourcebook represents the work of many contributors, and was developed by the Partnership for Child Development with the World Bank.In recent years, the education sector has played an increasingly important role in the prevention of HIV. It is now recognized that a good education is one of the most effective ways of helping young people to avoid HIV infection.
Children of school age have the lowest prevalence of infection, and even in the worst affected countries, the vast majority of schoolchildren are uninfected. For these children, there is a window of hope, a chance of a life free from AIDS if they can acquire the knowledge, skills, and values to help them protect themselves as they grow up. Providing young people with the 'social vaccine' of education offers them a real chance of productive life (see "Education and HIV/AIDS: A Window of Hope" [World Bank 2002]).Not only is education important to the prevention of HIV, the prevention of HIV is essential for education. In the presence of HIV&AIDS, some countries are beginning to witness a reversal of their hard-won educational gains, while others are being further set back due to the dramatic impact of the infection. Affecting supply, demand, and quality of education, HIV is limiting the capacity of education sectors to achieve Education for All (EFA), and their countries to achieve their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Alongside appreciation of the intrinsic value of education itself in preventing HIV&AIDS, in recent years many different countries and governments have increasingly recognized the value of specific preventive HIV education in combating the pandemic.In 2004, in response to the education sector's demand for information, a first "Sourcebook of HIV&AIDS Prevention Programs" was produced, documenting education based, child and youth targeted HIV prevention programs from 7 sub-Saharan African countries. Most of the programs included in this first volume were of comparatively small scale and occurred within non-formal settings. Others concentrated on the production and dissemination of IEC materials. Few were led by Ministries of Education and none were positioned within the formal curriculum. Feedback received during the use and review of the first Sourcebook suggested that since the school system accesses large numbers of young people and offers a ready made infrastructure for the delivery of large scale, cost-effective education, it would be advantageous to document Ministry of Education led school based programs.Hence, a second phase of work was proposed with a focus on identifying and documenting school based approaches that are appropriate in cost and scope for implementation by the public sector.
The first volume of the Sourcebook included only African countries and since it was felt that valuable lessons had also been learned outside Africa this second Sourcebook also includes examples of programs from some non-African countries that would have direct relevance to Africa.