Mary Guinn Delaney UNESCO HIV and AIDS Advisor for LAC

1. 1st Meeting of Ministers of Health and Education to Stop HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean Prevention through Education Mary Guinn DelaneyUNESCO HIV and AIDS Advisor for LAC

2. Background and Process • Initiative of the Government of Mexico (Ministries of Health, Education and Foreign Affairs) • Partnership with the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), Mexico • UN technical and financial support • Direct country and civil society participation

3. Process • Development of draft declaration through consultative process (April – July) • Regional diagnostic (situation assessment) through consultative process (May – July) • Political and Resource mobilization • Planning of technical meeting and ministerial summit

4. Regional Diagnostic: Process • Lead role INSP • Consultative process with UN, other partners to develop survey instrument • Survey at country level • Literature review • Consultative process to review drafts • Presentation of final results at technical meeting

5. Regional Diagnostic: Main findings • Sex education and HIV prevention education activities: MoE; content often developed by MoH • Related legislation in some countries; relatively comprehensive. Some countries have limited or no legislation. • Comprehenisive sexuality education usually a cross-cutting subject. Managed as an extracurricular subject in few countries; in almost none is it optional.

6. Regional Diagnostic: Main findings • At primary level, teacher usually main person responsible for delivering content • At secondary level, majority of relevant topics are covered, except discrmination and stigma related to sexual orientation. • Only Brazil, Mexico and Argentina report distribution of and/or access to condoms for youth at high school level. In Mexico it is not official; in Argentina only certain provinces.

7. Regional Diagnostic: main findings • Sexual abstinence only not promoted exclusively. • Improving efforts integrate children and adolescents living with HIV (or otherwise affected by the virus) • More work on evaluation is required.

8. Declaration: Consultative Process • INSP lead • UN agencies • Context of numerous existing commitments regarding human rights, sexual and reproductive health, HIV and AIDS and education at regional and international levels • Technical meeting with GHCT (May) and civil society • Website for comment by Ministries • Consultations with academic experts • Continous small group work based on feedback

9. Declaration: targets • By 2015, reduce by 75% the number of MOE schools that do not provide comprehensive sex education by 2015 • By 2015, reduce by 50% the number of adolescents and young people who are not covered by health services that appropriately attend to their sexual and reproductive health needs

10. Declaration: Main features • Implement and/or strengthen multisectoral strategies of comprehensive sexuality education and promotion and care of sexual health, including HIV prevention • Comprehensive sexuality education (human rights, ethical, biological, emotional, social, cultural and gender aspects; respects diversity of sexual orientations and identities)

11. Declaration: Main features • Recognizes importance of family and community participation • Address SRH service needs and demands of adolescents including access to counselling and HIV/STI testing, care, condoms, counselling about reproductive decisions, drug and alcohol abuse • Ensure consistency of mass media messages with those being promoted in comprehensive sexuality education

12. Declaration: commitments • Evaluate existing programmes during 2009 and 2010 • Update contents and didactic methods of curricula – in partnership with ministries of health – before the end of 2010 • By 2015, all teacher training activities will incorporate new comprehensive sexuality education curricula • Rigorous impact evaluation of at least five strategies for comprehensive sexuality education, sexual health promotion or HIV/STI prevention in adolescents and young people by2015

13. Declaration: commitments • Ensure appropriate legal framework for comprehensive sexuality education programmes • Ensure mechanisms for reporting discrimination in governmental education and health services • Strengthen cooperation between the two ministries (Joint mechanisms for planning, implementation, M&E) • Include these issues in upcoming regional and international summits

14. Meeting proceedings • Wording issues reflect important differences in approaches and priorities • Abstinence/delay of sexual debut • Sexual orientation/preference/diversity • Role of families • Inclusion of STI • Consider legal frameworks at national level • Explicit, measurable and time specific goals/commitments • Identification of concrete mechanisms for follow-up • Predominance of education sector issues despite much larger health presence

15. The way forward • Working group established to follow up on commitments • Technical (and financial) support pledged to support the ongoing process • Partner identification at country level • Ongoing development of conceptual framework • Alliance building • Assessment and evaluation processes • Review of legal frameworks • Workplan development • Resource mobilization

16. Thank youVIVA MEXICO! Mary Guinn Delaney UNESCO Regional Office for Education Santiago, Chile