Mitigating HIV/AIDS Impact on Education Systems: A Multi-Sectoral Approach

1. 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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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………

9. Prevalence rates Ante Natal Clinics Schools HIV Prev. as %

10. Settlement Patterns Road Infrastructure Access to Water Security Schools Health Facilities Education in a Multi-Sectoral Context

11. Composite Layers of Data

12. Access to Health Facilities

13. Improving Access to HealthFacilities via Schools

14. Improving Access to Health Facilities via Schools

15. 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: • Ministry/Department of Education • Ministry/Department of Health • Ministry/Department of Social Development • Census/Statistical Services

16. Absolute Measures:Households in Poverty Source: 1996 Census

17. Relative Poverty:Socio-Economic Deprivation Source: 1996 Census

18. Dependency Ratios Source: 1996 Census

19. State Health Service Provision Source: EduAction

20. State Social Service Delivery Source: EduAction

21. Access to Magistrates Courts (IDs)

22. 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……

23. Distribution of All NGO OVCServices

24. Distribution of FeedingSchemes

25. Feeding Schemes

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. Mitigating HIV/AIDS Impact on Education Systems:A Multi-Sectoral Approach MTT 2004 Winter School Sica’s Conference Centre, Durban