UNESCO’s Response to HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific History, Trends and Directions Jan Wijngaarden, UNESCO Bangkok

This presentation… Taking stock: what happened with UNESCO’s response to HIV/AIDS in the region since our workshop in Hanoi in 2003? Analysis main trends so far Future developments and trends Challenges

Taking stock: what happened with UNESCO’s response to HIV/AIDS in the region since our workshop in Hanoi in 2003?

Milestones 1987-1997 1987: 24th session of General Conference includes HIV/AIDS in Regular Budget 1991: ‘Venice Appeal’ – Preventive education is important, need to mobilize leaders in Africa 1994-95 Regional seminars for decision makers in the education sector were held aimed at behavior change 1997: UNESCO Coordination Mechanism (5 sectors) established; chaired by Natural Sciences

Milestones 1998-2001 1998-2003: Cultural Approach project 1998: Huge Brazil project starts with UNODC 1999: Preventive Education discussed at General Conference 2000: Executive Board orders UNESCO global strategy on HIV/AIDS 2001: IIEP becomes UNESCO coordinator 2001: First UNESCO global strategy on HIV/AIDS prevention education 2001: UNAIDS withholds UBW funds due to UNESCO failure to report on expenses

Milestones 2002-2003 2002: UNAIDS resumes UBW payments 2002: UNESCO Asia-Pacific HIV/AIDS strategy approved 2003: A/P HIV/AIDS coordination unit established; full-time HIV person hired in Viet Nam 2003: Advocacy Kit developed 2003: UNESCO Global and Regional strategies revised based on global HIV evaluation of UNESCO 2003: First A/P Capacity Building workshop in Hanoi

Milestones 2004-5 2004: Global Initiative launched in Zambia 2004: Full-time HIV officers hired in Kazakhstan, China, Indonesia and Thailand/Lao 2004: Bangkok Conference – unprecedented UNESCO visibility 2004: First US funds for HIV to UNESCO in Asia-Pacific (MSM) 2005: Second Focal Point capacity building workshop 2005: EXB funds for A/P almost double with arrival of OPEC funds

Asia – Pacific: Main developments 2002-now Rapid expansion in terms of funding; Rapid expansion in terms of staff; New and improved tools were developed and implemented; HIV/AIDS is high(er) on the agenda in most UNESCO offices than before; Quality of technical and policy advice provided by UNESCO improved; New programmatic directions.

UNESCO A/P funds for HIV/AIDS

Funding issues Still, most HIV/AIDS funds flow through Bangkok or come directly from Paris… Need to enhance field office capacity to raise funds locally… What do we get back from ‘our’ 13%?

UNESCO A/P full-time staff for HIV/AIDS

Staffing issues Evaluation report: UNESCO should set aside more funds and staff for HIV/AIDS All full-time HIV/AIDS staff in the region is funded from regional or HQ EXB funds, except Thailand, Cambodia and Uzbekistan Difference in experience, Scopes of Work – challenge & opportunity

New and improved tools JFIT/UNAIDS funded teacher training manual was evaluated, revised and improved; implemented in 3 countries Advocacy Toolkit was further developed and implemented in 10 countries Better HIV/AIDS on-line resources; clearing house, calendar, website

HIV/AIDS higher on agenda… UNESCO chaired the CCO/UNAIDS; Global Initiative on HIV/AIDS and Education launched; Bangkok Conference good for UNESCO More countries involved in regional HIV/AIDS network than before; More regular budget available for HIV/AIDS (but still a fraction of what is needed); More reference made to HIV/AIDS in UNESCO documents, speeches

Quality of TA improved… More technical expertise was recruited to work on HIV/AIDS in the region; Regular TA provision by UNESCO Bangkok; Second HIV/AIDS capacity building workshop held; Need for more?

New programmatic directions New target groups: Men having Sex with Men, ethnic minority populations, children, out-of-school youth; New approaches: Peer education, outreach, web-based counseling, radio programming, CLC New partners: MOH, US CDC, new NGOs New Level: Moving from central level to local / district level advocacy / tools

Analysis of main trends so far

How did we get where we are? Get high quality human resources in; Provide training and assistance Link them up where appropriate; Create partnerships with other agencies; Raise more funds locally and regionally

It should be noted that… Many other UN agencies have also achieved a greater role and more action on HIV/AIDS; Much more funding is available now for HIV/AIDS compared to a few years ago; UNESCO easily prioritizes – but does still not put its own money where its mouth is

Future trends

Where will we be @ in 2008? A full-time HIV/AIDS and School Health focal point in nearly all UNESCO offices; A further doubling of our EXB resources; At least 30% of funds raised at the national or cluster level rather than BKK or HQ; A more multi-sectoral strategy and approach to HIV/AIDS – not only focusing on Education; Better collaboration with UNAIDS, UNICEF and UNFPA in many countries

Challenges

Challenges Apathy in education ministries in many countries; Cooperation with UNICEF remains difficult – especially vis a vis the education ministry; UNESCO will over-stretch itself in some countries and still have lack of funds in others; Internal: risk of duplication by HQ projects, Institute-based projects, regional, national level projects Role of Nat Coms needs to be strengthened; Role of Science, SHS, CLT and CI sectors

THANK YOU For your attention!