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 PatternsRoad InfrastructureAccess to WaterSecuritySchoolsHealth Facilities

Composite Layers of Data

Access to Health Facilities

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 Health Service Provision Source: EduAction

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 OVC Services

Distribution of Feeding Schemes

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 Approach MTT 2004 Winter School Sica’s Conference Centre, Durban