UNESCO and P.A.U. Education laid the foundations for a partnership in relation to the problem of street children and HIV & AIDS in 2003. This website presents the main issues and publications created in the framework of the different activities carried out to assist these children. UNESCO and P.A.U. Education have favoured an approach based on partnership and networking between the various actors: ministerial officials, associations, expert partners, etc. The material presented was developed during the international seminar on "Protecting the rights of street children: combating HIV & AIDS and discrimination", held in Bamako (Mali) in December 2003, and the sub-regional seminar for the training of facilitators on "Preventing HIV & AIDS among street children", which was held in Niamey (Niger) in June 2005.

Bamako: six guidelines on street children and HIV & AIDS
The Six Guidelines, drawn up by the participants of the Bamako seminar, created the conditions for sharing experiences.

Niamey: Methodological Guide for Facilitators
The guidelines on listening and teaching skills for the facilitators, as well as those on contents, formed the basis of the work carried out during the sub-regional seminar in Niamey. A Specific Website (in French) was set up prior to the seminar in Niamey, through which the future participants were able to exchange views via a forum, publish their contributions on each of the issues of the seminar, and consult the material made available to them to encourage reflection.

The Final Report on the Niamey seminar discusses the different issues dealt with, such as the profile of the facilitators, gaining access to the children, intervention techniques, contents and intervention tools. During the seminar, the participants also decided on the form and contents of a methodological guide, entitled Street Children and HIV & AIDS: Methodological Guide for Facilitators

An estimated 38.6 million people worldwide were living with HIV at the end of 2005. AIDS is undermining progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those related to poverty reduction, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and reducing child mortality. Currently, children under 15 account for one in six AIDS-related deaths worldwide and one in seven new HIV infections. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region in the world. Children that are economically and socially marginalized (street children, working children, orphans …) suffer from different forms of exclusion. Their conditions of life make them more vulnerable to HIV and AIDS.

The protection and promotion of the rights of these children are crucial to preventing the spread of HIV and reducing the social and economic impact of the pandemic.

This CD-ROM was conceived as a tool for all persons who work to promote preventive education for vulnerable children. It contains data on HIV and AIDS, publications and documents, interactive stories as well as photographs of children who are directly affected by the pandemic which threatens the future of Africa's youth.

For copies of the CD-ROM, please contact: f.migeon@unesco.org   m.patrier@unesco.org