Kotieno Primary School

THEME: HIV/AIDS EDUCATION AND AWARENESS • HIV and AIDS education is an essential part of HIV prevention. In Kenya AIDS education is part of the curriculum in both Primary and Secondary Schools and for a number of years Kenya has delivered educational campaigns to raise nationwide awareness on the issue. Nearly all adults aged 15-64 had heard about AIDS, nine out of ten adults knew that a healthy-looking person could be infected with HIV and most knew how to reduce their chances of becoming infected with the virus. Awareness of the need to use condoms was high with 75 percent of women and 81 percent of men in this age group aware that condoms reduce the risk of HIV infection. • HIV/AIDS is a major epidemic in the Lake Victoria region. This is as a result of wife inheritance, polygamy and careless sex at the shores of Lake Victoria in exchange of fish Majority of the young generation are not going to school due to the fact that of poverty levels are high and have unprotected sex as a social activity. • Defining the impacts of AIDS on children can be in demographic or social terms. In terms of its demographic impacts, HIV/AIDS affects children in the following ways: Higher infant and child morbidity and mortality rates; Lower life expectancy; higher rates of orphaning. • The issue of definitions is pertinent regarding the emergence of rights based approaches to supporting children affected by AIDS, as questions of vulnerability, categorization and targeting are under scrutiny. HIV/AIDS has many direct and indirect impacts on children’s rights, ranging from the consequences of the psychological impact of losing one or both parents, to reduced access to quality education and health services • The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is underpinned by four major principles: the right to survival, development and protection from abuse and neglect; the right to have a voice and be listened to; that the best interests of the child should be of primary consideration; the right to freedom from discrimination • The main aspects of focus are: to foster links between HIV/AIDS prevention activities, home based care, and efforts to support orphans and other vulnerable children; to target the most vulnerable children and communities; to give particular attention to the gender-specific needs of boys and girls; to involve children and adolescents as part of the solution; to strengthen the role of schools and education systems; to reduce stigma and discrimination; to strengthen the caring capacities of families through community-based mechanisms; to strengthen the economic coping capacities of families and communities; to enhance the capacity of families and communities to respond to the; psychosocial needs of orphans and vulnerable children, and their caregivers; to find sustainable ways to remove children from hazardous and exploitative work; to accelerate learning and information exchange; to strengthen partnerships at all levels and build coalitions among key stakeholders; to ensure that external support does not undermine community initiative and motivation