July 25, 2008
Unsafe school settings can put girls at risk for HIV.
For years, EDC trained African teachers on the basics of HIV prevention—consistently using a condom, for example, or asserting oneself in relationships. Yet teachers would return to environments where traditional gender roles did not support these behaviors.
As part of the EFAIDS program, EDC addressed how the school environment could improve HIV prevention skills in teachers and their students by developing a toolkit that examines the elements that define gender roles in a school, elements such as school setting, curricula, and role models. Says EDC’s Scott Pulizzi, “Even basic things, like having separate latrines, the enforcement of conduct violations, and adequate lighting, can affect schoolgirls’ feelings of well-being and safety at school.”
Pulizzi trains teachers participating in EFAIDS in approximately 40 countries throughout Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean to use the toolkit for advocacy, publicity, and union policy development.
A collaboration with the World Health Organization, EFAIDS is funded by Education International.
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