EQUATE technical brief: gender, education, and HIV/AIDS

Education plays a pivotal role in shaping the lives of children and young adults. Yet, schools can be breeding grounds for potentially damaging behaviors that remain with pupils into adulthood. Schools can conversely prove effective in helping young people learn positive and healthy models of behavior by challenging the harmful gender norms that limit academic achievement and increase the likelihood of HIV infection, especially for girls. This technical brief examines the relationship between gender disparities and the spread of HIV/AIDS and offers suggestions for USAID staff and implementing partners in designing appropriate education sector strategies for mitigating the impacts of HIV/AIDS by addressing gender inequality.