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The Human Sciences Research Council is organising and hosting a regional workshop on behalf of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). The workshop will focus on “Good Practices in Education-Sector Responses to HIV and AIDS in Africa”. The main aim of the regional workshop is to provide a forum for the sharing, presentation and review of HIV and AIDS ‘best practice’ education-sector responses in Africa. This is because the epidemic remains a major public health, social, economic and development challenge, with sub-Saharan Africa disproportionately affected. The education sector is a key are of focus and intervention. On the one hand, HIV and AIDS have affected educator supply because of the relatively high sero-prevalence found among teachers. On the other, it has made millions of children orphans, thereby increasing the responsibility of schools and teachers. However, education remains one of the most effective approaches to prevent HIV transmission and to mitigate the impact of the epidemic. There is increasingly clear evidence that access to schools for children and adolescents ranks among the most effective and cost-effective means of HIV prevention, as it assists in keeping them free of infection and avoiding risk. Moreover, quality education influences not only the acquisition of knowledge but the development of constructive attitudes, skills and behaviours needed to develop appropriate personal and societal responses to the epidemic. The workshop intends to go beyond talking about problems and challenges, and to develop a set of practical suggestions and insights to provide further guidance to countries’ education sectors in their endeavour to combat the epidemic and its effects. Main workshop discussions and themes will include: HIV and AIDS and education sector responses: Good practices and successes from selected country case study presentations. Gaps and barriers to effective implementation or scaling up of successful programmes. Key/ priority education sector strategies for implementation, based on evidence in practice and achieving maximum impact. The workshop will bring together 40 officials and technical experts from the 13 of the 17 Commonwealth countries in Africa, the Commonwealth Secretariat, ADEA, government, universities and non-governmental organisations from Commonwealth African countries.
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