Mitigating HIV/AIDS Impact on Education Systems:

A Multi-Sectoral Approach

Peter Badcock-Walters

MTT 2004 Winter School

Sica’s Conference Centre, Durban

10 August 2004

Funded and Supported by USAID

Education and the Multi-Sectoral Context

• Education is central to the socio-economic and cultural life of any community and nation;

• Education exists in a multi-sectoral context and is linked to health, social welfare, job creation and economic growth at every level;

• The education sector is part of the social cluster of ministries and should have development partners inside and outside government;

• While any education sector response to HIV/ AIDS requires a clear education focus, it also requires the mobilization of multi-sectoral partnerships to succeed.

Defining the Multi-Sectoral Approach

• Many international development agency are

promoting a multi-sectoral approach to HIV/AIDS

impact but few agree on what it means;

• The broad concept is that every social sector

ministry of government should plan, budget and

action their HIV/AIDS response collaboratively;

• For this purpose, we may define the multi-

sectoral approach as: The reinforcement of

sectoral HIV/AIDS mitigation planning and

implementation through collaborative planning,

budgeting and action with other social sector

ministries and development partners.

Multi-Sector Components• The ‘Social Cluster’:

– Ministry of Education– Ministry of Health – Ministry of Social Welfare & Development

• Ministries of:– Local Government– Agriculture & Land Affairs– Home/Internal Affairs– Finance

• Department of Census & Statistics:– Provision of demographic/other data– Provision of poverty/dependency analyses

• GIS/Spatial Analysis Service Providers

Illustrative Examples• OVC (Orphans & Vulnerable Children) provide an

example of an HIV/AIDS-related multi-sectoral

issue of concern to education, social welfare,

health, local government, security etc;

• HIV/AIDS increases the scale of orphaning and

vulnerability and will increase the demands on

these and other sectors;

• No one sector is or can be entirely responsible

for OVC: This implies the need for a functional

multi-sectoral collaboration to deal with the

explosion in the number of OVC;

• These sectors must work together to share data

and resources in order to respond effectively.

Illustrative Examples• ARV treatment and roll-out is another example of

a multi-sectoral issue of concern to education

and health – and also to the economy;

• Education cannot independently provide ARVs to

educators and other sector personnel without

government considering the implications for the

entire civil service;

• This implies the need for shared impact and

vulnerability analysis and decision making at the

highest levels of government;

• Any outcome will affect health and every other

sector of government as well as the national

budget process.

Obstacles to Development• In practice, while government ministries often

commit themselves to multi-sectoral activity, they

lack a framework within which to operationalize

this commitment;

• This may relate to issues of power, control of

resources and reluctance to release sectoral data;

• Collaboration and shared planning often appears

easier to achieve at local and district level than at

national level;

• In spite of widespread government commitment

to multi-sectoral collaboration and its

development logic, few countries have either

policy or regulations in place to facilitate this.

A Model for Collaboration• What may be required is a model that does not

disadvantage any one ministry and benefits all those which participate;

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology may provide the vehicle for such a model;

• GIS and linked spatial analysis is the most effective way to visually link layers of sectoral data and provide a shared planning platform;

• These data can also be benchmarked and provide the visual basis for monitoring change over time;

• GIS also provides the most efficient way to merge data sets for analysis; some examples………

Prevalence rates

Ante Natal Clinics

Schools

HIV Prev. as %

Education in a Multi-Sectoral Context

Settlement Patterns Road Infrastructure Access to Water

Security Schools Health Facilities

Composite Layers of Data

                                                             

Access to Health Facilities

                                                             

Improving Access to HealthFacilities via Schools

Improving Access to Health Facilities via Schools

Defining, Identifying & Geolocating OVC

• OVC is an example of a multi-sectoral issue which requires a partnership approach more than ever in the HIV/AIDS era;

• The distribution of OVC can be correlated with patterns of poverty and socio-economic deprivation;

• In order to support OVC response, data must be merged from different sources, including:1. Ministry/Department of Education

2. Ministry/Department of Health

3. Ministry/Department of Social Development

4. Census/Statistical Services

Absolute Measures:Households in Poverty

Source: 1996 Census

Relative Poverty:Socio-Economic Deprivation

Source: 1996 Census

Dependency Ratios

Source: 1996 Census

State Health Service Provision

Source: EduAction

State Social Service Delivery

Source: EduAction

Access to Magistrates Courts (IDs)

Identify & Geolocate Organisations Working with/

Supporting OVC• In addition, the role of NGO, CBO and FBO

partners must be recognized, as suppliers of

services, information and local support;

• It becomes critical to identify the operational

location and range of these partners in relation

to demand and one another;

• Rational planning of these support networks can

eliminate overlaps and identify areas of need to

inform partner response and donor support;

• Spatial analysis can enhance their effectiveness

and provide the basis for effective multi-sectoral

partnerships with social sector ministries……

Distribution of All NGO OVCServices

Distribution of FeedingSchemes

Feeding Schemes

Summary Comments• GIS and spatial analysis can provide a non-

threatening platform and model for multi-sectoral collaboration and planning;

• It can also enhance the data and planning capacities of individual sectors;

• Education, as the largest of the social sector ministries, should take the lead and develop a geographically-referenced, detailed database of all schools and institutions;

• This resource can become the basis for the overlay of other sectoral data and provide a shared planning and management platform;

• This resource can be located in all sectors simultaneously and shared as required.

Country Team Exercises• Divide into 5 groups and ensure that there is not

more than one person from any country in each;

• In 30 minutes, do the following:– Identify & briefly describe at least 3 obstacles to

multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS country response;

– Identify & list potential sector partners for education

– Identify & briefly describe at least 3 ways that you might overcome these obstacles;

– Pick one of these strategies and describe how you would use this to advocate for a multi-sectoral approach to HIV/AIDS response;

– 1 group will be selected to present on each of these issues for 5 minutes, with plenary participation.

Mitigating HIV/AIDS Impact on Education Systems:

A Multi-Sectoral ApproachMTT 2004 Winter School

Sica’s Conference Centre, Durban