Education

GENEVA, 1 December 2024 — This World AIDS Day (1 December), sixteen global celebrities, including Hollywood film star Luke Evans and singer-songwriter Sia of the Unstoppable hit song, are uniting behind UNAIDS’ call for world leaders to protect human rights, which they say is vital to ensuring the success of efforts to end AIDS.

The celebrities, including actress and comedian Margaret Cho; comedian and poet Alok Vaid-Menon; fashion designer and television personality Tan France; actor Alan Cumming; actor, broadcaster and comedian Stephen Fry; actress Uzo Aduba; Moroccan artist OUM; South African actress Thuso Mbedu; Chinese actor and singer Huang Xiaoming; professional football player Racheal Kundananji; Pakistani-British actor and comedian Mawaan Rizwan; Filipino model and actress Pia Wurtzbach; Ukrainian singer and TV show host Vera Brezhneva; and popular television presenter Erkin Ryzkullbekov have come together in support of UNAIDS call to “Take the rights path to end AIDS.”

“The choice is clear if we want to end AIDS as a public health threat. World leaders must take the rights path to protect people’s right to health and life. When human rights are respected and guaranteed, their lives are greatly improved because they can freely seek healthcare, including HIV prevention and treatment.” said Stephen Fry, broadcaster and comedian.

“In far too many countries, people are still criminalized for being who they are or for who they love. When LGBTQ+ people are criminalized, they are driven underground and out of reach of health services, including services to prevent and treat HIV.” said Alok Vaid-Menon, American comedian and poet.

The report highlights gaps in the realization of human rights and shows how violations of human rights are obstructing the end of the AIDS pandemic.

63 countries still criminalize LGBTQ+ people.

Discrimination against girls and women, from denial of education to denial of protection from gender-based violence, is also undermining progress in the global HIV response. In 2023, women and girls accounted for 62% of new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We all win the fight against AIDS when human rights and the right to health are secured for everyone everywhere. We can end AIDS as a public health threat by promoting rights, respect and dignity for all." said, Margaret Cho, actress and comedian.

“When girls cannot get access to education and information, when young women cannot access HIV prevention and testing, they are put at much greater risk of acquiring HIV,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS.

In 2023 alone, 1.3 million people around the world were newly infected with HIV—three times higher than the global target set for 2025 of no more than 370 000 new infections.

“To protect everyone’s health, we need to protect everyone’s rights,”

UNAIDS World AIDS Day report, “Take the rights path to end AIDS”, shows that the world can end AIDS—if the human rights of people living with or affected by HIV are respected, protected and fulfilled, to ensure equitable, accessible and high-quality HIV services.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Four weeks before the African Cup of Nations football tournament kicked off it was down to the wire. José Fardon, a Côte d’Ivoire web designer and digital developer, had his whole team frantically working on a special edition of an interactive health and HIV game app, called "A l'Assaut du Sida", ‘Tackling AIDS’ (AADS) to coincide with the tournament.

The UNAIDS team had secured funds for the latest rendition of the online game and had rallied UNICEF and the Global Fund to chip in.

“We had launched various versions of the game in the past, but this required a different look and feel to gel with the sporting event,” said Mr Fardon, founder of SYL.

They also needed a final approval from the National AIDS Programme (PNLS).

"Out of the many initiatives put forward ahead of the CAN, the online app really appealed to us because we knew it would not only reach the target audience, it would also make an impact,” said Eboi Ehui, PNLS Coordinating Director. “This is a generation that has never seen the ravages of AIDS so they have felt like it isn’t a problem but it is.”

The success was beyond anyone’s expectations.

The 20,000 tournament volunteers recruited by the Ministry of Youth not only played the online game themselves but they fanned out around the stadiums promoting the game by sharing the QR code with the hundreds of thousands of supporters. And with various prize giveaways during the tournament and afterwards, more and more people downloaded the app to play. Since mid-January 2024, AADS has reached nearly 200,000 adolescents and young people with the latest version reaching a lot of young boys and men (cumulatively, the three versions have reached almost 300 000 people.)

“When I think back, this idea germinated in 2016 as a tool for schools then was launched at the Francophonie Games a year later but now, we really brought it to the general public,” Mr Fardon said. “I am so proud we never gave up.”

His determination impressed more than one person.

In eight years, he convinced UNAIDS staff, the country’s Ministry of Health in close collaboration with PNLS, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth and countless partners on the ground.

UNAIDS Country Director Henk Van Renterghem, like his predecessors before him, saw the value and potential of using digital technology to reach adolescents and young people. “General knowledge about HIV and overall comprehensive sexual education has decreased and young people are struggling with so many choices that this easy to download game is without a doubt relevant,” he said.

In July 2023, he explained, the National AIDS Council was alerted by the results of a survey and beseeched HIV partners to step up communication and education efforts.

“Despite the fact that young people have more access to information through the internet and social media than ever before, many young people are struggling to make informed decisions about their sexual relations,” said Mr Van Renterghem. For example, the survey revealed that only 40% knew that medicine (anti-retroviral treatment) existed for HIV and 39% of girls (29% of boys) did not know that condoms prevented HIV transmission. Last year, 20% of new HIV infections in the country were among 15–24-year-olds, according to government data.

As a result, UNAIDS staff along with SYL, vetted and increased the number of questions expanding prevention info.

He and his staff were particularly happy because they also succeeded in expanding the scope of the content.

In went the fact that people with HIV on effective treatment can achieve an undetectable viral load and cannot transmit the virus (U=U) plus stuff about stigma & discrimination, human rights, gender equality and gender-based violence – all structural drivers of HIV.

The full game of 400 questions is like a quiz with additional information popping up. Players score points by advancing through 40 sets of ten questions. At least seven correct answers are needed to advance to the next level. It can take up to an hour to get to the last round and when the updated pilot was tested in October and November of 2023, young people responded well.

Two of the young players who scored in the best percentile agreed.

“The game really taught me a lot. There are a lot of facts about HIV and sexually transmitted diseases,” said Marie Koffi. For Wilfried Touré he said, “I learned a lot of things that I had no idea about from tuberculosis to HIV and even on a personal level I picked things up.”

Going forward national partners now want to distribute a scholastic version of the game to all Côte d’Ivoire schools.

During the final awards ceremony at the end of March, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Health, Pierre Dimba, was clear.  “This fun and educational online game is a response to young people's need for true and accurate information via social media,” he said.  “The popularity of this game among teenagers is a real testimony that adapting our communication strategies to the habits and needs of young people pays off.”

In Mr Van Renterghem’s mind, Côte d’Ivoire should be proud.

“This home-grown low-cost tool will help us sustain our HIV prevention efforts as international funding will inevitably dwindle.”

That is in part why Mr Fardon and UN partners are dreaming even bigger.

“We would like to launch the app-based game in neighboring countries and eventually roll this out throughout western and central Africa,” he said.

“The sky is the limit.”

In a modest neighborhood of Bangui, Central African Republic’s capital city, Gniwali Ndangou is rushing to work. She’s a peer educator and community health worker at a youth sexual education centre, CISJEU.  

The same centre that saved her life.

I'm an orphan," she said, “I am the youngest of three sisters.” Throughout her childhood, her legal guardian told her to take pills saying it was anti-malaria and headache medicine. “I was the only one who took treatment every day and it never stopped.”

After threatening to stop taking pills when she was 17 years old, her sister finally told her the truth. She was born with HIV.

Gniwali couldn’t believe the litany of lies. Having recently been forced to quit school as her adopted family struggled to make ends meet, she once again felt abandoned.

 
“Many times, I tried to commit suicide… I wanted to end my life,” she said.

Her sister Astrid said she tried to pull her youngest sibling out of despair and kept hammering to her: “There are no differences between us, we are all humans.”

At her sister’s urging, Gniwali sought help at a youth center, Centre d’information et d’éducation sexuelle des jeunes (Center for Youth Sexual Education and Information) known as CISJEU. Established in 1994, CISJEU has been a beacon of hope for many young people like Gniwali. They offer community-led services ranging from HIV prevention to HIV testing to peer-supported treatment initiation and adherence.  

War and extreme poverty have greatly increased premature death in Central African Republic, leaving seventy-eight percent of the population under 35 years old. Young people struggle to receive an education with less than 4 in 10 adults literate. Gender inequality and gender-based violence also make young girls particularly vulnerable to HIV infection. Out of the 10,000 yearly new HIV infections, 3000 are among 15-24 years old with more than two female infections for every one male infection.

According to a UNICEF survey, less than 20% of young people possess comprehensive knowledge about HIV prevention. The youth center uses peer educators to bridge this knowledge gap and provide youth-friendly services. "We've trained and deployed 160 peer educators (80 in schools while the others are at youth centers) across different districts of Bangui and beyond, ensuring effective outreach and health and body awareness," said Michael Guéret, a program officer at CISJEU.

Chris Fontaine, former UNAIDS Country Director, underscores the importance of peer-led initiatives, “Addressing HIV and sexual health among young people in CAR is not just a health issue but a critical component of sustainable development and peace consolidation.”    

With support from UNAIDS and the Ministry of Health, CISJEU has attained the right to distribute HIV medicine, antiretroviral therapy, among the community.

For Gniwali, CISJEU became more than a sanctuary. Through training programs, she evolved from a beneficiary to a peer educator and community healthcare provider. “I received various certifications such as mobile HIV testing, and psychosocial support."

Leading discussion groups and dispensing life-saving antiretroviral medications to young people, she inspires young women to take care of their health. Her message is clear and powerful: "Being a young woman isn't easy. We must educate ourselves about this disease, fight against it, and prevent its spread in our country.”

Despite substantial declines in new HIV infections globally, the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to disproportionately impact adolescent girls and young women in many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2022, there were 3,100 new weekly infections among adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 years.  In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women accounted for more than 77% of new infections among people aged 15-24 years in 2022.

That’s why Education Plus Initiative co-hosted with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg a high-level side event on the margins of the 68^th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) to bring attention to the cost of inaction, calling for more consistent investment in education, health and economic rights of adolescent girls and young women in Africa. The CSW, which runs from 11- 22 March 2024, is the United Nations largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment, with this year’s priority theme, Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.

Speakers included four ministers from Luxembourg, Benin, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, senior government officials from Cameroon and South Africa, and heads of UN agencies who co-lead Education Plus, ATHENA network. Hannah Dolly Kargbo, a young activist from Freetown, Sierra Leone, and founder of the Girls Advocacy Development Network (GADNET), pre-recorded a video that showed her work with young people to advance rights.

The event, Education Plus investment cases for transformative results: leveraging girls completion of secondary education for gender equality and HIV prevention mobilized government, partners and key stakeholders towards accelerated actions and translate commitments to action for gender equality and HIV prevention in Africa.

The costs of inaction on the rates of HIV in adolescent girls and young women remain significant, not only counted in terms of the harmful impacts on girls’ lives but in how they undermine prospects for poverty eradication and the well-being and resilience of families, communities, societies and national economies.  For instance, the lack of educational and economic opportunities that result in women’s diminished labour force participation is estimated to cost the African region US$60 billion in economic losses every year. And yet Africa could gain US$500 billion per year through multi-sectoral investments in adolescents and youth, especially girls, by capitalizing on demographic windows of opportunity.

Education Plus calls for investment in the education and empowerment of adolescent girls and young women, and 15 champion countries are already committed to using education as a means to reduce high HIV rates.  Investments that guarantee education for all young people, violence-free school environments, provision of stigma-free health services, comprehensive sexuality education, access to sexual reproductive health and rights services and economic autonomy and empowerment are key to ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. When adolescent girls and young women complete secondary school, their risk of getting HIV is reduced significantly.

Medical student Anaïs Maillat, 21, joined METIS (Movement of The Students Against Inequalities in Health Access) for a simple reason. The children’s beaming smiles drew her in.

As a member organization of the International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA), the Swiss Medical Students Association (SWIMSA) Switzerland, launched the program CALWHA which works with children and adolescents living with HIV and AIDS in Tanzania.

Ms. Maillat focused on the Mwanza region where the rate of HIV infection is higher than the national average as its project coordinator.

“Our project is currently helping more than 400 children living with HIV and AIDS,” she said. “We organize activity days in hospitals where children and adolescents get check-ups, medicine, a meal, educational activities, and a safe space to play,” she added.

Activity days are held on three Saturdays of each month for children and adolescents aged 0 – 19 years old to improve clinic attendance and treatment adherence. “For many children, the hospital is far, so parents miss work, which has a cost,” Ms. Maillat explained. The project pays for people’s transportation to the hospital and that help allows many children to stay on treatment, according to CALWHA.

Like Ms. Maillat, medical students worldwide are taking an active role in the HIV response in their native countries.

Ana Laura Nascimento, a 21-year-old medical student and member of IFMSA Brazil, became an advocate for sexual and reproductive health rights through Pense Positivo, a project that organizes HIV awareness activities for houseless individuals and sex workers.  

During her school years, Ms. Nascimento said she realized there was a clear demand to educate her peers about sex due to sexually transmitted infection (STI) outbreaks. “We organized Testar é Saber (“testing is knowing”), a campaign to encourage students to get tested for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C,” she said.

That led to information sessions at the university including doctors, public health professionals, and the municipality. As a result, the school now offers testing events twice a year.

Ms. Nascimento went on to lead and become a member of IFMSA Brazil’s National Officers for Sexual and Reproductive Health (NORA).

In Malaysia, another NORA leader, Joseph Hamzah Anwar, is a 25-year-old medical student and a member of Society of MMA Medical Students. He became an outreach worker for People Like Us Hang Out (PLUHO) - an LGBTQ organization based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that focuses on mental health.

“I met doctors who are not sensitized to issues that HIV comes with and this discourages clients from seeking treatment,” he said. In his view, the younger generation of doctors need to be aware and knowledgeable, so people stay on HIV treatment and live their lives like any other person.

As members of IFMSA, these future doctors have been organizing activities with communities as part of the organization’s aim to strengthen its involvement in the HIV response.  They also seek to educate the public about HIV and AIDS and reduce stigma and discrimination in all healthcare facilities.

Representing more than a million medical students as their members, IFMSA also contributes to the Global Partnership to End All Forms of HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination and holds a leadership role in The PACT, a global coalition of youth-led organizations advocating for sexual and reproductive health rights.  

On August 24, IFMSA, with the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) launched a Declaration of Commitment to HIV and AIDS. The Declaration will guide IFMSA and IPSF in their future efforts to contribute to the AIDS response.

All three future doctors hope that the declaration will encourage others to join the global youth movement to end AIDS. “With the activities outlined in the declaration, I believe we are on the right track to end AIDS by 2030,” Mr. Anwar said.

“I truly believe that young people have the potential to unite to end AIDS,” Ms. Maillat said. “We are the generation of unity. Let’s do this. You and me.”

The University of San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC) Faculty of Medical Sciences, in collaboration with UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), launched an online course titled "Conceptos clave sobre VIH, Género y Derechos Humanos" (Key Concepts on HIV, Gender, and Human Rights). The four-module course is designed to provide teaching staff with detailed knowledge about key concepts related to HIV, its treatment and prevention, and the national and international legal framework guiding the response to HIV, as well as the gender and human rights dimensions of the epidemic.

With an estimated three new HIV infections each day in Guatemala and only 73% of the estimated 31,000 people living with HIV receiving antiretroviral treatment and persisting high level of stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV, the course is a significant step towards addressing the country's HIV challenges. The course aims to provide teaching staff and students with the necessary resources to promote, protect, and fulfill the human rights of adults, adolescents, and children living with or at risk of acquiring HIV, in all their diversity.

The course consists of 140 hours of study, including 70 hours of theory and 70 hours of practice, and will be undertaken between May and August 2023. Course participants will join virtual classes and synchronous group workshops and will have to submit the required tasks according to a work schedule.

The course covers four modules: Module 1 - Update on HIV and AIDS; Module 2 - National and international legal framework for the response to HIV; Module 3 - Health sector Policy framework for HIV response; Module 4- Key concepts on gender and human Rights.

During the inauguration, Marie Engel, UNAIDS Country Director, expressed her hope that participants would enjoy taking the course as much as she and other partners had in developing it. She also emphasized that "the course will be enriched with participants' individual knowledge and experiences, their doubts and concerns. There is obviously a lot of knowledge and wisdom among course participants that the facilitators will strive to capture."

Dr. José María Gramajo, General Coordinator of the USAC Faculty of Medical Sciences' Area of Teachers and Postgraduate training, highlighted that "this refresher course will contribute to the professional development of faculty teachers, sharing with them the latest knowledge about innovations related to HIV prevention, detection, and care, and ensuring an in-depth understanding of cross-cutting issues relevant to HIV and other public health problems."

Teaching staff and students are catalysts with the power to change the national response to HIV. As stated by Dr. Mirna Herrarte, Coordinator of the national HIV, STI, and AIDS program, "I am glad to know that there are so many professionals who want to know more about HIV. In the country, HIV treatment schemes are constantly reviewed. As an anecdote, Guatemala had more than 200 antiretroviral schemes a year ago. Under my leadership, we have reduced those schemes by 75%."

Inequalities persist in the most basic health and HIV services, such as access to screening, treatment, and condoms. USAC's collaborative initiative is an important step towards ensuring that all sectors, including academia, are engaged in ending social, economic, and legal inequities. The University of San Carlos de Guatemala is the largest and oldest university in Guatemala, and the only national and public university in the Central American country. 

For 20 years Kochaphan Wangtan has been a community health worker, serving other people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Thailand.

“I’ve seen many friends living with HIV come to care very late with opportunistic infections,” she said.

“I focus on helping to bring them in and provide support to start antiretroviral treatment right away and I also conduct home visits, counselling and psychosocial screening so I can link them to services they need,” Ms Wangtan explained.

Ms Wangtan is from the Jai-Prasan-Jai Comprehensive Continuum of Care Center (CCC) from the Phan District Hospital in Chiang Rai province. She is one of almost one thousand PLHIV health workers who are embedded in more than 230 Thai hospitals and serve almost 60,000 PLHIV annually.

For the first time, the country has rolled out a national community health worker certification for these volunteers. The initiative is called “A Comprehensive Continuum of HIV/AIDS Care and Support for and by People living with HIV.” The curriculum was developed by the Ratchasuda College of the Mahidol University through close collaboration with the Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (TNP+) as well as support from the Health Ministry’s Division of AIDS and STIs and the National Health Security Office. USAID-PEPFAR via the III Unify Collaboration Programme and UNAIDS provided technical and financial support.

“PLHIV volunteers have provided the first community engagement in the HIV response since the start of the epidemic in Thailand,” said UNAIDS Country Director, Patchara Benjarattanaporn. “Peer-led support boosts treatment initiation and retention and is central to the HIV response,” she said. This initiative ensures that PLHIV-led health services are standardized, recognized and valued.

Two modules are delivered over 90 hours. The first module focuses on theoretical training, including on holistic follow-up care, treatment adherence counselling and developing a comprehensive service plan. The second module is practical. Along with its HIV focus, the curriculum also integrates tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections, Hepatitis C and non-communicable diseases. Earlier in the month the first cohort of 46 PLHIV health workers received their certification.

Dr. Wachara Riewpaiboon, a rehabilitation physician and former Ratchasuda College Dean, developed the curriculum.

“The health system is not only for health professionals… It belongs to everyone,” she said. “Getting an HIV diagnosis does not help clients understand what they are facing. When people living with HIV tell their story, it is very different knowledge they are imparting. The knowledge that helps people make decisions for themselves usually comes from peers, not doctors.”

For her, care goes beyond medicine.

“It is not only biology that we are dealing with, but also psychology and our interaction with our social environment—how people look at people living with HIV and how they perceive themselves,” Dr Riewpaiboon continued. “It is very important to help people see the positive side of their experience.”

According to Nurse Chulaporn SingPae, an HIV Coordinator at the Phan District Hospital, PLHIV volunteers help with counselling, adherence, missed appointment follow-up, home visits, treatment deliveries, overcoming stigma including self-stigma and promoting understanding of U=U, undetectable equals untransmittable. (An undetectable viral load means the virus is not transmittable aka untransmittable.) The training ensures that these contributions are recognized by the health system as meeting quality standards.

Now that the course has been developed and tested, the curriculum has been recognized by the National Health Security Office (NHSO). Thai civil society organizations, who provide HIV and STI services with certified community health workers have been accredited and are eligible to register as health service units in the Universal Health Coverage scheme. Having supported the development and pilot of the curriculum, UNAIDS is now supporting a study to cost these services. The office is also working to promote sufficient and sustainable financing for community-led health services for PLHIV and key populations.

“This training is going to become the guarantee that a peer educator provides a high quality of service, in a holistic way, which encompasses not just the physical but also the mental, emotional and social aspects,” said Apiwat Kwangkeaw, Chairperson of the Thai Network of People living with HIV/AIDS. “As this becomes institutionalized, we are sending a message to the health system as a whole to let the community of peer educators be an equal partner,” he said. Mr Kwangkeaw hopes this will translate into sustainable domestic financing for community-led health services and better quality of life for PLHIV. 

Tanzania became the 13^th African country to join the Education Plus Initiative, committing to provide greater investments to ensure boys and girls complete secondary school. 

Education Plus is an initiative spearheaded by UNAIDS to accelerate action and investments in education to prevent HIV. Evidence shows that completing secondary education reduces the risk of HIV infection and early pregnancy and improves their livelihoods and prosperity for girls and young women. The education Plus initiative is centred on empowering adolescent girls and young women and achieving gender equality in sub-Saharan Africa.

On 30 November 2022, during the HIV week commemoration, the Office of the Prime Minister, led by the Minister of State for Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr George Simbachawene, alongside the Deputy Minister of Health Dr Godwin Mollel, launched the initiative in Lindi region, Tanzania. 

"Young people aged 15-24 years make up one of the largest groups of new infections, among all new infections every year, approximately 30% are among people aged 15–24. That means for every 10 new infections, three are from this age group,'" said Mr. Simbawachane 

The launch of Education Plus in Tanzania will accelerate the ongoing country's adolescent education, health and wellbeing agenda.  Tanzania has been particularly affected by HIV. In 2021 around 1.7 million people were living with HIV; 74% of new HIV infections among young people aged between 15 and 24 were among young women, showing the disproportionate impact HIV is having on young women and girls.

Minister Simbachawene said the country would increase primary education opportunities for adolescents and enable them to stay in school by removing all barriers to completion of primary and secondary school education. Through the initiative, Tanzania will strengthen efforts to bring HIV education, reproductive health, and life skills to adolescents inside and outside of school.

The initiative comes at a time when Tanzania has made good progress in adopting global treaties and agreements to address gaps in education and health rights and increase opportunities for girls and boys. Most commitments have been translated into national policies and strategies, as demonstrated by the government’s commitment to offering free basic and secondary education. Tanzania has also adopted policy decisions to implement a re-entry program for children who drop out and to include comprehensive sexuality education into the curriculum. The country has also amended the HIV and AIDS Act to lower the age of consent for HIV testing and allow HIV self-testing.

The minister also pledged to do more to eliminate gender-based and sexual violence by providing youth-friendly education, skills building, and enhancing referrals by connecting youth to health and community services.

However, key gaps remain, with national surveys showing increased rates of teenage pregnancy, school dropouts, and high levels of gender-based violence. Around 27% of young women aged between 15 and 19 years already have a child or are pregnant and 50% of ever-married women aged between 15 and 49 report experiencing physical, sexual, or emotional violence.

The total number of students enrolled in secondary education is still below 50%, and for those in school, there is a high dropout rate, and some do not complete their schooling. The country has a low completion rate in secondary schools at 11.3%, and dropout in secondary schools due to pregnancy was reported at 4% in 2020.

Despite increased political will and significant achievements, women's and girls' vulnerabilities remain very high. Adolescent girls and young women in Tanzania continue to shoulder the burdens of domestic work, gender inequality in education, and harmful norms. Many are entrenched in cycles of poverty and extreme vulnerabilities.

At the launch, the government committed to strengthening policies to facilitate the provision of education and essential skills to prepare and equip young people for employment and other economic opportunities.  

The launch was attended by key partners including Dr Leonard Maboko, the Executive Director for Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS) youth representative Pudensiana Mbwiliza; Permanent secretary office of the Prime Minister, Dr John Jingu and Hon Judith Nguli from Lindi Regional Commissioner’s office and Tanzania PEPFAR coordinator Jessica Greene;  representatives from  UNAIDS, UNESCO, International Labour Organisation (ILO), UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

The event brought together civil society organisations, young people’s networks, and representatives of people living with HIV and partners. Co-lead by five United Nations agencies working with governments, women’s and youth movements; the initiative is of even greater urgency as the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed millions of African girls out of school.