Speech at the opening ceremony
of the Conference of Ministers
of Education of the African Member States,
By Peter Piot Executive Director
Your Excellency President Mkapa, Director-General Matsuura,
Carol Bellamy, distinguished Ministers of Education, ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for the opportunity to be with you today and I wish to thank
in particular UNESCO Director-General Matsuura for inviting me here,
and for his efforts to place AIDS at the centre of the education agenda,
globally and especially in Africa. UNESCO is, of course, one of the
eight Cosponsors of UNAIDS, and collectively we bring the United Nations
system together in a joint focus on AIDS.
AIDS stands not only as the most catastrophic disease the world has
ever faced and the deepest challenge to the development of Africa, but
also as one of the biggest obstacles to achieving Education for All.
The world's goals in promoting education for all and in turning back
the AIDS epidemic are mutually dependent. Without education, AIDS will
continue its rampant spread. With AIDS out of control, education will
be out of reach.
Indeed, in order to ensure the next generation of children are protected
from the effects of AIDS, and inherit a world worth living in, our efforts
against AIDS in the education sector must be successful. There is an
overwhelming need for today' s policy and action to focus on the generation
today not yet sexually active. These children are our window of hope
for the future. The extent to which we protect them, and support them
in the face of the impact of AIDS on their parents' generation, will
determine whether today's AIDS emergency turns into next decade's catastrophe.
The world has already set lofty goals for development, education for
aIl, and in the Declaration of Commitment on AIDS adopted at last year's
UN General Assembly Special Session on AIDS. These goals are all interlinked.
And AIDS threatens to unravel the whole package.
In Africa, AIDS has reduced the supply of teacher.
AIDS reduces the demand for education, as children are withdrawn from
school, because there is no money, or to care for sick relatives and
replace labour - and unfortunately it is girls who are most likely to
be withdrawn.
And AIDS reduces the quality of education because of the strains on
the material and human resources and the health of students.
Education systems need to respond, but not at the margins. An AIDS response
needs to become embedded at the core of education's priorities. As the
new Education for AIl monitoring report states "every policy, procedure
and activity should be re- worked and rethought within an AIDS centred
policy framework".
AIDS is a constraint, but it is also an opportunity for governments
to re-tool education systems to respond to the impacts and prevent the
further spread of HIV.
Many African education systems have begun to respond to AIDS but there
are still major needs in curriculum provision, workplace policies, budgeting
for replacement teachers, and generating grass roots responses involving
parents and students as well as teachers.
For UNAIDS, assisting national education responses to deal better with
AIDS is among our most urgent priorities. The new UNAIDS education strategy
developed by our Inter-Agency Task Team on education, chaired by UNESCO,
sets out actions to address both the impact of AIDS and to begin AIDS
education early -before children are exposed to risk.
Simultaneous action is needed on at least four fronts:
First, to tackle HIV-related stigma, still a huge barrier to effective
action.
Second, to provide direct support to children and families in communities
that have been heavily affected by AIDS. Our Cosponsor UNICEF has been
particularly active in this area.
Third, to respond to AIDS comprehensively in the context of teacher
education, including through the development of AIDS-specific curriculum
materials.
Fourth, to address schools as workplaces, ensuring that teachers have
access to treatment and care to enable them to continue to work productively,
that schools adhere to good workplace policies, and that teacher replacement
is sufficiently funded.
It is never too early to begin education for my prevention. Children
need age-appropriate information about the risks of AIDS, and the impacts
AIDS is having on their communities, before they are exposed to risk.
Parent and community leadership needs to be enlisted as an essential
ally in this process. And gender equity is a fundamental AIDS-attacking
strategy.
Building education system responses to AIDS has costs. The additional
costs imposed by AIDS on the goal of education for all has been estimated
at one billion dollars annually. But the costs of failing to make this
investment are even higher. Special initiatives are needed, including
the Fast Track Initiative to support countries achieve Education for
All led by the World Bank.
AIDS can be defeated. The latest statistics released by UNAIDS for World
AIDS Day point to new evidence of progress: among young women in South
Africa and Zambia, reduced HIV rates in inner-city Addis Ababa, as well
as ongoing reductions in AIDS in Uganda. Wherever there has been success,
young people have been in the forefront of change.
Education has a sacred trust to these young people. To give them both
the knowledge and the courage to stand up to AIDS, to protect themselves,
to care for their fellow community members, whether living with HIV
or not.
These are great challenges, but they are not ones we can avoid. Today's
world is a world with AIDS. It must also be a world in which children
have the education they need to secure their future.
Thank you.
