HIV Prevention for Most at Risk and Vulnerable Groups

Considering the estimate that 95% of HIV infected young people in Asia have become infected by their engagement in injecting drug use, sex work or male to male sex, UNESCO sees a particular challenge in the years ahead in ensuring that education sector responses are more relevant and effective to these characteristics of Asian AIDS epidemics.

One of UNESCCO Bangkok's major focuses is aimed at reaching children and young people who are especially vulnerable to HIV due to several factors, including poverty, migration, being part of a minority population or because they have lost one or both parents. These children are at risk because their ‘social safety net’ is damaged or missing. Especially vulnerable youth are defined as young people who are more likely to start engaging in one of the three key risk behaviors driving Asian AIDS epidemics. Since many of them are out of school, most vulnerable adolescents and young people could be reached via the non-formal education system, including community learning centers, efforts to increase literacy and adult education programs.

UNESCO's programmes targeting most-at-risk and vulnerable groups

HIV Prevention and MSM

The focus of this programme is in practice mainly on coordinating UNESCO’s actions with UNDP which has the leadership role in responding to the HIV prevention, care and support needs of men who have sex with men (not necessarily only young men / adolescents), due to UNESCO’s track record in this area of work. UNESCO has been working with representatives of men who have sex with men, their organizations and with Government partners since 2002 in Thailand, Cambodia, China and Viet Nam. UNESCO Bangkok was one of the founding members of the Purple Sky Network, a sub-regional network of MSM organizations and government representatives from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam and two provinces in Southern China, in 2002. It was also a founding member of the Asia-Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM), established in New Delhi in 2005. UNESCO is on the Regional Technical Board of PSN and in the Governing Board of APCOM.

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HIV and Drug use

Besides its close coordination with UNDP on work relating to MSM, UNESCO aims to coordinate with UNODC in its mandate of responding to the HIV prevention, care and support needs of people injecting drugs, and in line with that agency’s lead role, UNESCO aims to support UNFPA in meeting the HIV prevention, care and support needs of those engaged in sex work.

Project Highlights

HIV and AIDS Prevention Among Men Having Sex with Men
Male-to-male sex is one of the three key risk behaviors driving Asian AIDS epidemics, according to the AIDS in Asia Commission Report and other recentpublications. It is estimated that, in general, 5%-20% of all HIV infections in Asian countries are caused by male-to-male transmission. In some cities where general population prevalence is low, like Beijing and Vientiane, this percentage is much higher. So far, only a tiny minority of MSM (3%, according to a 2005review conducted by UNAIDS) have access to comprehensive HIV prevention and care services in Asia – this is lower than coverage of injecting drug usersand sex workers in most countries.

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