Recognizing the vital role of the education sector in national responses to HIV, the UNAIDS Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations (CCO) launched EDUCAIDS in March 2004.

EDUCAIDS is the UNAIDS Global Initiative on Education and AIDS. It is led by UNESCO in collaboration with governments, UN partners, and civil society organizations. The initiative seeks to promote, develop and support comprehensive education sector responses to HIV.

EDUCAIDS has two primary aims: to prevent the spread of HIV through education and to protect the core functions of the education system from the worst effects of the epidemic including the loss of teachers and other education professionals to the disease.

EDUCAIDS Resource Pack

As countries put in place and implement comprehensive, scaled-up responses towards universal access to HIV prevention programmes, treatment, care and support, EDUCAIDS aims to mobilize the education sector and has recently published a Resource Pack developed by UNESCO in close collaboration with a range of UN agencies and international organizations, including members of the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Education.

This resource pack is designed to support ministries of education and other stakeholders at the country level. It aims to give technical guidance on developing and implementing policies, determining resource allocations and implementing programmes for education and HIV.

In 2007, representatives from 60 countries participated in EDUCAIDS-related activities, with progress achieved in developing comprehensive HIV and AIDS education strategies in over half of these. National priority actions were identified in 39 countries for continued follow-up through seven sub-regional capacity-building workshops.

Capacity for policy development and programme implementation was further enhanced through technical assistance and information exchange including two UNESCO-supported sub-regional consultations in East and Southern Africa on addressing the needs of HIV-positive teachers and on strengthening the role of schools in HIV treatment, care and support.

Currently available in English, the Resource Pack will soon be published in Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. All language versions will also be included in a forthcoming CD-ROM.

Limited copies of the Resource Pack can be ordered free-of-charge by emailing aids@unesco.org and specifying the number of copies and preferred language version.

The resource pack contains the following materials:

1. EDUCAIDS Framework for Action
   This outlines five essential components of comprehensive education sector responses to HIV implementation support available through the EDUCAIDS initiative. This version is an update of the 2006 Framework, taking into account the 2007 UNESCO Strategy to Respond to HIV, as well as feedback from six recent regional and sub-regional meetings and workshops involving nearly 40 countries.
2. EDUCAIDS Technical Briefs
   These are 35 two-page summaries of key issues related to a comprehensive education sector response. Each brief can be used as a stand-alone reference, and together they offer comprehensive and flexible guidelines on the continuum of activities required to respond to the epidemic at the country level.
3. EDUCAIDS Overviews of Practical Resources
   These overviews provide guidance on the technical and operational aspects of the response.  Each includes a resource summary list and a two-page analysis of the included resources identifying crucial resource gaps, needs for further research, and additional online resources.