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Supporting HIV-positive teachers in east and southern Africa: Technical consultation report
UNESCO
September 2007

http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=39756&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

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East and Southern Africa are the two regions in the world which are the most highly affected by HIV and AIDS. A significant number of people with HIV are educators, ranging from primary school teachers to head teachers and university lecturers.

Due to their unique custodian role in society, HIV-positive teachers often experience high levels of stigma and discrimination within schools and outside of school settings. Stigma and discrimination have posed a major barrier to supporting teachers with HIV and fostering their involvement in responding to the AIDS pandemic.

In response, UNESCO together with the three partners in the EI-EFAIDS programme - Education International (EI), Education Development Center (EDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) - convened a consultation with HIV-positive teachers and other key stakeholders from Ministries of Education and teachers' unions from Kenya, Namibia, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The consultation aimed to share experiences and articulate common, key elements of comprehensive responses for HIV-positive teachers. Specifi cally, the consultation aimed to:

• Determine the unique needs of and the impact of HIV on HIV-positive teachers, who - to date - have received relatively little focused attention; and
• Identify the type and level of support required to adequately address HIV-positive teachers' needs.

This report presents a summary of the key points, outcomes and recommendations emerging from the consultation. In order to provide a comprehensive response for HIV-positive teachers, there needs to be support for HIV-positive teachers to continue teaching in a supportive environment which is free of stigma and discrimination, and the promotion of their meaningful involvement in education sector responses. For this to be in place, a number of actions were seen necessary, including to:

Identify and address the varying needs of HIV-positive teachers - Teachers are not a homogenous group and, as such, their experience of being HIV-positive will vary. To address their differing needs, it is necessary to assess the unique and varying situations that teachers face. Furthermore, a comprehensive response for supporting and involving teachers with HIV must recognise and target teachers at several levels: the individual (e.g., health and emotional well-being); the occupational (i.e. discrimination and absenteeism); the community
(such as stigma); and the systemic (e.g., undermining of provision of education).

Tackle stigma and discrimination - A key challenge when implementing any programme or policy is how to support HIV-positive teachers without increasing their vulnerability to stigma and discrimination. In other words, care should be taken not to identify HIV-positive teachers as the only group which is sexually active and requires special treatment, or to create conflicts with other staff. Well-meaning actions may have negative consequences.

Ensure access to prevention programmes, treatment, care and support - One of the most urgent needs in East and Southern African countries is to ensure that teachers who are in need of treatment, care and support are able to access affordable and confidential services. The consultation highlighted the need to build upon existing public treatment services rather than create parallel programmes specifically for teachers which are unsustainable and may inadvertently increase stigmatisation.

Build links between teacher's unions and networks of HIV-positive teachers - The consultation highlighted the pivotal role of HIV-positive teachers' networks and teachers' unions. Networks of HIV-positive teachers are active in many countries in East and Southern Africa and have been vocal in promoting the needs of their members. Although these groups are growing, they may have limited membership, weak structures and low sustainability. Teachers' unions are one of the strongest potential allies of networks of teachers with HIV. With membership figures of over 90 percent in some countries, teachers' unions are the largest and most powerful bodies for promoting the welfare of teachers. However, some unions in the region have been unsure of how to support HIV-positive teachers. The consultation provided an important opportunity to bring together these two different types of support, and the overwhelming conclusion was that unions and networks of teachers with HIV must work more closely together.

Other important programmatic components of comprehensive responses for supporting HIV-positive teachers include:

• Workplace policies on HIV and AIDS in the education sector that address the needs of HIV-positive teachers;
• Training and skills-building to reduce stigma towards teachers with HIV and to equip all teachers with the knowledge, skills and confi dence they need to reduce their own risk to HIV infection and to teach about HIV;
• Strategic partnerships with school administrators and other sectors including, for example, Ministries of Health (e.g., on antiretroviral therapy (ART)), Ministries of Labour (e.g., on workplace policies for education sector staff) and Ministries of Planning (e.g., on Education Management Information Systems (EMIS));
• Community-based activities to reduce stigma and discrimination towards teachers with HIV and to educate parents that a teacher with HIV poses no threat to the safety and well-being of the students, does not hinder his or her ability to be a good educator and has the right to the same level of respect as any other teacher; and
• Relevant, timely and accurate data for planning, monitoring and evaluation.

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