Unesco O3 Annual Report 2021

Our Rights, Our Lives,
Our Future (O3)

2021 ANNUAL REPORT

Making positive sexual and reproductive health and
education outcomes a reality for adolescents and young
people in sub-Saharan Africa

Published by:

UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa
Education for Health and Wellbeing Sector
8 Kenilworth Road, Newlands
PO Box HG 435, Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe
+263 (0) 242 776775
www.unesco.org/new/en/harare

Coordinated by:

UNESCO Regional Offices for Eastern and Southern Africa:
Patricia Machawira, Remmy Shawa, Marie-France Agblo-Hientz, Ygainnia Hamandawana, Florence Danner

UNESCO Multi-sectoral Regional Office for West Africa (Sahel):
Xavier Hospital, Sandisile Tshuma, William Ngue, Emilie Dejasse

© UNESCO, 2022

This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO)
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be bound by the terms of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository (www.unesco.org/open-access/terms-use-ccbyncnden).

Reference Code: HAR/ED-HW/2022/10

Design and layout: Marike Strydom, Jade Rose Graphic Design

Editor: Danya-Zee Pedra

Cover photo: © shutterstock.com

Contents 02
04
Acronyms 06
Programme summary 08
Gender equality and a human rights-based approach 11
2021 highlights 14
Results against targets 14
Results per objective 19
22
Objective 1 26
Objective 2 34
Objective 3 36
Objective 4 38
Financial analysis 40
Looking ahead: Key priorities for 2022 43
Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future PLUS (O3 )PLUS 44
Key achievements 49
Country reports 55
Botswana 60
Camaroon 65
Côte d'Ivoire 71
Democratic Republic of Congo 76
Eswatini 81
Ethiopia 86
Ghana 90
Kenya 96
Lesotho 100
Malawi 105
Mali 110
Mozambique 114
Namibia 119
Niger 124
Nigeria 128
Senegal 134
South Africa 139
South Sudan 144
United Republic of Tanzania 148
Uganda 154
Zambia 155
Zimbabwe 156
Republic of Congo 157
Gabon
Madagascar 01
Togo

© UNESCO
© UNESCO

Acronyms

AnImRS Analysis and Imaging of the Response to SRGBV tool
ASRH Adolescent sexual and reproductive health
ASRHR Adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights
AU African Union
AYP Adolescents and young people
BtS Breaking the Silence
CEI Comprehensive Education and Information
CSE Comprehensive sexuality education
CSO Civil society organization
CwR Connect with Respect
DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo
EAC East African Community
EHW Education for health and well-being
EMIS Education Management Information System
ESA Eastern and Southern Africa
EUP Early and unintended pregnancy
FAWE Forum for African Women Educationalists
FLE Family Life Education
FLHE Family Life and HIV Education
FTP Financial and technical partner
G&C Guidance and counselling
GBV Gender-based violence
HFA Health facility assessments
HTEI Higher and tertiary education institution
ICASA International Conference on HIV and STIs in Africa
ICT Information and communication technology
IICBA International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa
IIEP International Institute for Educational Planning
IPPF International Planned Parenthood Federation
ITGSE International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education
LBSE Life skills-based HIV and sexuality education
LSE Life Skills Education
M&E Monitoring and evaluation
MoH Ministry of Health
MP Member of Parliament
MTR Midterm review

02

© UNESCO
© UNESCO

NGO Non-governmental organization

Norad Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation

NPO National programme officer

O3 Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future

OPD Organization for people with disabilities

PCC Parent-child communication

PSS Psychosocial support

PTA Parent-teacher association

RAES Réseau Africain pour l’Éducation et la Santé

REC Regional Economic Community

RHE Reproductive Health Education

RLP Regional Learning Platform

SADC Southern African Development Community

SAfAIDS Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service

SAMRC South Africa Medical Research Council

SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

SERAT Sexuality Education Review and Assessment Tool

SGBV Sexual and gender-based violence

Sida Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

SMC School management committee

SRH Sexual and reproductive health

SRHR Sexual and reproductive health and rights

SRGBV School-related gender-based violence

SSA Sub-Saharan Africa

STI Sexually transmitted infection

SVB School violence and bullying

TCG Technical Coordinating Group

ToT Training-of-trainers

TWG Technical Working Group

UN United Nations

UNCRPD United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNFPA United Nations Population Fund

WASH Water, sanitation and hygiene

WCA West and Central Africa

WHO World Health Organization

03

Programme summary

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and The objectives of the Programme are to:
Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO’s) Our Rights, Our
Lives, Our, Our Future (O3) Programme supports 1. Secure and sustain strong political commitment
delivery of good quality comprehensive sexuality and support for AYP’s access to CSE and sexual and
education (CSE) that empowers adolescents and reproductive health (SRH) services across sub-Saharan
young people (AYP) and builds agency, while Africa (SSA).
developing the skills, knowledge, attitudes,
and competencies required for preventing HIV, 2. Support the delivery of accurate, rights-based, and
reducing early and unintended pregnancies (EUPs), good quality CSE programmes that provide knowledge,
and eliminating gender-based violence (GBV). values, and skills essential for safer behaviours, reduced
adolescent pregnancy, and gender equality.

3. Ensure that schools and community environments are
safer, healthier, and inclusive for all young people.

4. Strengthen the evidence base on CSE and safer school
environments.

04

© UNESCO

The O3 Programme is run in partnership with ministries of 3. Networking countries are part of the project network
education across the 33 countries in which it is implemented. and receive seed funding. They benefit from common
The Programme benefits from the generous support of the regional activities, such as joint regional trainings and
governments of Sweden, Ireland, Norway, and France, as guidance materials, depending on their individual
well as the Packard Foundation. readiness to participate.

The O3 Programme adheres to a three-tier country system as By the end of 2022, the O3 Programme set out to reach 24.9
follows: million learners in 72,000 primary and secondary schools,
51,000 pre-service teachers, and 402,000 in-service teachers.
1. Programme acceleration countries receive significant The Programme also aims to reach 30.5 million people
targeted funding to allow for an accelerated scale-up of (parents, guardians, religious leaders, and young people out
CSE implementation. of school) through community engagement activities as well
as 10 million young people through the Young People Today
2. Focus countries receive intensive support to carry website and social media platforms.
out specific activities to strengthen the development
and delivery of CSE based on their specific needs and
situations.

05

© UNESCO Gender equality
and a human
rights-based
approach

UNESCO’s Global Priorities on Gender Equality and
Africa have been reaffirmed for the 2022-2029
period, and will continue to be at the centre of
its work on education for health and well-being.
The O3 Programme encapsulates this focus
through its vision for a sub-Saharan Africa where
all adolescents and young people attain positive
health, education, and gender equality outcomes.
Human rights are also at the heart of UNESCO’s
mandate, and the O3 Programme contributes to
this through its work in advancing AYP’s sexual
and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) through
education, and defending all young people’s right
to education.

The O3 Programme seeks to transform gender norms and
attitudes of learners, while challenging rigid notions of
masculinity and promoting gender equality. The Connect
with Respect (CwR) curriculum-based tool, for example,
promotes gender equitable relationships and challenges all
forms of violence, including bullying, corporal punishment,
and school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV). At
systems level, the O3 Programme addresses barriers to girls’
education, health, and empowerment, including adolescent
pregnancy, HIV, and GBV.

Grounded in a human-rights approach, the O3 Programme
focuses its efforts on ensuring all AYP, including those living
with disabilities, have equitable access to SRH information
and services in alignment with the Universal Declaration on
Human Rights, which requires governments to guarantee
the overall protection of health, well-being, and dignity of all
their citizens.

Indeed, the effective delivery of CSE empowers AYP to realize
their health, well-being and dignity; develop respectful social
and sexual relationships; consider how their choices affect
their own well-being and that of others; and understand and
ensure the protection of their rights throughout their lives.

06

1 2 3

Programme Focus countries Networking countries
acceleration receive intensive are part of the project
countries receive support to carry out network and receive
significant targeted specific activities seed funding. They
funding to allow for an to strengthen the benefit from common
accelerated scale-up of development and regional activities
CSE implementation. delivery of CSE based such as joint regional
on their specific needs trainings and guidance
and situations. materials, depending
on their individual
readiness to participate.

Figure 1: Countries implementing the O3 Programme

Programme Acceleration Countries
Eswatini, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Focus countries
Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda,
Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda

Networking countries
Angola, Benin, Burundi, Chad, Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Togo

07

2021 Highlights In collaboration with other United Nations (UN) partners,
the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Supporting education sector Secretariat, the East African Community (EAC), and other
responses to COVID-19 members of the Commitment’s Technical Coordinating
Group (TCG), UNESCO supported the reaffirmation by
UNESCO continued to leverage its expertise in ministers of education, health, gender, and youth from 10
health education to support education sector Commitment member countries2 at a high-level virtual
responses to COVID-19 through distance learning ministerial meeting on 6 December 2021. Seven countries
and radio and TV lessons, technical briefings and were not able to join the meeting, while the remaining four
guidance for school re-openings, and a suite of requested more time to review and consult further on the
multimedia tools including videos, podcasts, and Commitment. By endorsing the renewal of the Commitment
multilingual infographics. In addition, with the to 2030, the ministers affirmed their pledge to work towards
lifting of COVID-19 lockdowns in many countries, ensuring that AYP’s health and well-being continue receiving
the O3 Programme supported governments priority for the betterment of this demographic dividend.
to ensure a safe return to school for teachers
and learners with the development of standard Progress towards the WCA Commitment
guidelines on the prevention and management of
COVID-19 in schools and provision of psychosocial Notable progress was made in 2021 towards realizing the
support (PSS) for teachers and learners. WCA Commitment, including several new organizations
joining the WCA Technical Working Group (TWG), such as
Furthermore, initiatives like the Keeping Girls in School Doctors of the World, Engender Health, MSI Reproductive
campaign in West and Central Africa (WCA) addressed Choices, Rutgers, and Sonke Gender Justice, showing it has
the gendered impact of COVID-19 on educational access, become a strong focus of attention and synergies among
thereby mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on girls’ international partners. The TWG also developed a draft WCA
education. The campaign trained media and young people Commitment text, finalized the report on the situation of AYP
to advocate for girls to return to school through, for instance, in the region, and made extensive use of country factsheets
a variety of topical messages broadcast on radio and displaying national data on, among others, SRH, GBV, child
television programmes to raise awareness on the protective marriage, quality of SRH services, and gender equality
effect of education. Community-based dialogues with through infographics.
religious and community leaders also addressed gender
disparities in education. In addition, UNESCO’s efforts to strengthen the links and
collaboration between the WCA Commitment process and
Objective 1: Securing political the Education Plus Initiative, two advocacy endeavours with
commitment and support for CSE closely related goals, have led to closer synergy between
and SRH these two processes, which initially ran in parallel.

Renewal and endorsement of the ESA Development of the Continental Strategy on
Commitment 2021-2030 Education for Health and Well-bweing

The endorsement of the renewed ESA Commitment1 was a A key milestone in 2021 was the inception of the
key success for the O3 Programme. development of the Continental Strategy on Education
for Health and Well-being (EHW), in collaboration with the
1 The Eastern and Southern African Ministerial Commitment on Comprehensive United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and International
Sexuality Education and Sexual and Reproductive Health Services for Adolescents Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). The strategy, which
and Young People, endorsed and affirmed by Ministers of Health and Education seeks to provide a unified and cohesive approach to guide
from 21 countries in the region in 2013. African countries in addressing the health priorities within
the educational sector, is anchored around four pillars:
skills-based SRH education; safe, non-violent, inclusive, and
effective learning environments for all; promoting healthy
eating and drinking and physical activity and sports; and
substance use. The strategy will be finalized in 2022.

2 Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, South Sudan,
Zambia, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe.

08

Objective 2: Improving delivery of CSE for learners with disabilities also attracted a strong
good quality CSE interest in WCA. A virtual four-day workshop, organized in
partnership with Handicap International and the Forum for
Accelerating delivery of good quality CSE African Women Educationalists (FAWE), gathered education
authorities, associations of people living with disabilities,
Significant strides were taken to accelerate delivery of civil society organizations (CSOs) and financial and technical
good quality CSE in schools through innovations in teacher partners (FTPs) from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire,
training, revamping of the CSE online course, and supporting DRC, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo. Together
the revision and development of teacher training materials. they identified pressing issues and planned for activities
After a year marked by the COVID-19 epidemic, countries to be implemented at country level, while UNESCO and
have turned the situation around and achieved significant partners contributed towards building their capacities. The
numbers of teacher trained. In WCA, for instance, the number workshop also showed that it is possible to have virtual
of pre-service teachers trained jumped from 405 in 2020 capacity-building and sharing workshops that are interactive,
to 110,632 by the end of 2021, while across all Programme engaging, and well attended – a lesson that is particularly
countries, a total of 325,172 pre- and in-service teachers were pertinent to save costs and provide another way to plan
trained. regional activities.

Delivery modes for CSE were also diversified beyond the Objective 3: Ensuring safer,
classroom, with more countries investing in distance healthier, and inclusive schools and
solutions, partly due to the high cost of face-to-face training community environments
and partly due to the pandemic necessitating improved
agility of educational systems. Solutions included the Connect with Respect tool
production of resources for a range of different virtual
formats, such as TV, radio, and social media (YouTube, UNESCO continued to support efforts to strengthen
Facebook, Twitter) and training on how to facilitate prevention and management of SRGBV using the CwR tool,
television lessons and produce distance learning courses. which was piloted in five countries in the ESA and Asia
As a result, the number of lessons available to learners Pacific regions, namely Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, Thailand,
through distance learning solutions increased dramatically. and Timor Leste, in 2021. Results from an analysis of the
For instance, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) pilot revealed that the tool was instrumental in improving
produced 168 video lessons integrating CSE subjects, which relationship skills among students and there was a significant
were disseminated on national television and online, and decrease in attitudes towards violence, among other key
Cameroon produced 100 lessons for dissemination online, findings.
via national television and radio. Radio continued to be an
essential medium to bridge the digital divide ensuring more ‘Our Talks’ parent-child communication manual
equitable access to CSE.
Following the easing of stringent COVID-19 restrictions in
Leaving no one behind: Improving delivery of most countries, UNESCO continued rolling out training for
CSE for learners with disabilities parents and adolescents using the 'Our Talks' parent-child
communication (PCC) manual, which seeks to support
In order to ensure CSE is inclusive, UNESCO commissioned healthy and positive communication between parents/
a needs assessment to review CSE provision for learners guardians and AYP on SRHR. By the end of 2021, six ESA
with disabilities in Eswatini, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and countries3 had rolled out implementation of the manual,
Zimbabwe. This was followed by a virtual workshop on CSE reaching a total of 1,768 parents.
for learners with disabilities in Eastern and Southern Africa
(ESA), where over 120 participants were able to engage, Training of religious leaders on SRHR
share knowledge, and exchange good practices, as well as
build consensus on provision of CSE and SRH services for Religious leaders are a key constituent when it comes to
AYP with disabilities. Additionally, a training-of-trainers (ToT) addressing SRHR issues for young people and a powerful ally
for 73 participants on CSE for AYP with disabilities took place in the face of opposition to CSE.
in Malawi and Zimbabwe on the Breaking the Silence (BtS)
approach, which aims to make CSE accessible to learners 3 Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, and Tanzania.
with disabilities, drawing on interactive learning methods to
empower educators with skills and tools.

09

In 2021, significant progress was made on sensitizing and CSE Regional Learning Platform
developing the capacity of religious leaders to advocate
for and support AYP's access to CSE and SRHR services, In 2021, the CSE Regional Learning Platform (RLP), a web-
primarily through training using the Religious Leaders based platform designed to facilitate information sharing,
Toolkit, which was developed in partnership with the World knowledge exchange, and learning across all Programme
Council of Churches in 2020. A total of 734 religious leaders countries, continued to evolve to accommodate the CSE
from Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Sudan, online course, additional resources from the ESA and WCA
Tanzania, and Zimbabwe were trained on the toolkit, yielding regions, and additional developments to make it more user-
notable results such as the commitment by religious leaders friendly. As a result, significantly more traffic was observed,
in Eswatini to set aside time weekly to address congregants with 5,010 users recorded in 2021 compared to just 575 in
on SRH, and the development of action plans to reach at 2020, representing a massive 771% increase. Of the 5,010
least 40 AYP with ASRH issues weekly by religious leaders in users, 87.9% were new, while the remaining were returning
Tanzania. In addition, the organization of information and users. Likewise, there were a total of 15,475 page views in
mobilization sessions around CSE and SHR in Cameroon 2021 compared to 5,504 in 2020, representing a substantial
and Nigeria reached more than 21,250 traditional chiefs and 181% increase.
community and religious leaders.
Integration of health education indicators into
Objective 4: Strengthening the EMIS
evidence base on CSE and safer
school environments In order to increase the number of countries integrating
CSE-related indicators into their Education Management
O3 Programme mid-term review Information System (EMIS), 106 professionals across nine
acceleration and focus countries in WCA participated in
A midterm review (MTR) covering the Programme’s a series of virtual workshops and working sessions led by
implementation from 2018-2020 was conducted to assess UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning
implementation progress, opportunities, and challenges (IIEP). By the end of this process, six countries (Cameroon,
to be mitigated in the remaining term of the Programme, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal) had fully
among other issues. integrated at least three indicators in their school census.
The series of workshops were in themselves a major learning
The MTR revealed that the O3 Programme is well-aligned opportunity as they demonstrated that there was not always
with national and regional ASRHR plans, strategies, and a need for face-to-face regional meetings to ensure capacity-
programmes and has helped raise the political priority of CSE building and obtain important and concrete results.
in many countries, contributed to the delivery of quality and
effective CSE, and increased visibility and dialogue on issues Legal frameworks and education policies
of GBV in the education sector, among other key findings. relating to sexuality education: A review of 11
However, obstacles and challenges for CSE and AYP SRH WCA countries
programming remain, particularly opposition to CSE, social
and cultural constraints to the acceptability of CSE, and Recognizing that national laws and education policies
operational challenges to scale up CSE and ensure its quality play a key role in establishing an enabling environment
delivery. for the development and implementation of quality CSE
programmes, a series of studies examined the integration of
The review recommended, among others, conducting a issues related to SRH and gender equality into the legislation
political, economic, and situation analysis to map stakeholder and educational policies and strategies of 11 WCA countries.4
power dynamics and identify strategic entry points for The studies aimed to guide the strengthening of national
neutralizing or countering false narratives; prioritizing legal and policy frameworks by shedding light on existing
building the evidence based on what works through strengths as well as aspects that could be reinforced in order
longitudinal studies; and elaborating on innovations to create an environment conducive to national sexuality
developed to expand the reach and access of Programme education programmes. By the end of 2021, the studies were
interventions. validated in five countries, namely Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire,
DRC, Nigeria, and Togo.

4 Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria,
Senegal, and Togo.

10

Results against targets

Results5 against key indicators and targets are shown in the table below:

01 30,202,132Number of learners reached by life skills-based HIV and sexuality education (LBSE)
2021 result: 2021 target: 17,282,260

02 136,237Number of pre-service teachers trained on CSE
2018-21 result: 2018-21 Target: 73,952

03 188,9356Number of in-service teachers trained on CSE 2018-21 Target: 302,697
2018-21 result:

04 Number of primary and secondary schools that provided
05 11.6%life skills-based HIV and sexuality education
2018-21 Result: (56,453 out of 486,200)7
2018-21 Target: 14% (68,068 out of 486,200)

30,437Number of parent-teacher associations (PTAs) reached
2018-21 Result: 2018-21 Target: 16,982

06 20,383,997Number of community members reached with efforts to keep girls in school
2021 result: 2021 Target: 5,660, 871

Number of young people in and out of school reached

07 with CSE through multiple media platforms
35,033,9602021 result:
2021 Target: 7,716,736

08 59Number of research pieces commissioned

2021 result: 2021 Target: 15

5 Results for indicators 1, 6, & 7 are for 2021 only, the remaining are cumulative and reflect 2018-2021 period. There is Target achieved
high risk of double counting on the former hence results are not added together for each year. Target not achieved

6 Outstanding data from the previous year for 1 country incorporated. 11
7 Overall programme target is 15% of schools in SSA, by end 2022. Data on schools was not available for some countries

e.g., Ghana, Mozambique. EMIS reports also not available for some countries hence moderate estimates used.

Reaching learners with CSE Indeed, although some countries have made advancements
towards ensuring that the delivery of CSE is adapted to
The re-opening of schools across most countries in the suit the needs of learners with disabilities, including but
region following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, coupled not limited to translation of teaching and learning material
with continuous advocacy with ministries of education to into braille, the reality is that much more still needs to be
accelerate CSE delivery as well as augmented in-service done. In addition, data collection challenges persist, where
teacher training, saw over 30 million learners reached management information systems are largely not able to
with CSE in 2021. Yet despite this significant achievement, provide disaggregated data to show learners with disabilities
reaching learners with disabilities has remained a challenge. who have been reached with CSE.
Even though some learners with disabilities are included in
the 30 million figure, the needs assessment8 commissioned Of the 30 million plus learners reached with CSE, programme
by UNESCO showed that they may not have fully accessed acceleration countries contributed slightly above one third
CSE due to multiple challenges. (31.9%), as well as over 80% of the 35 million young people
reached with CSE through media platforms. Investments
8 UNESCO. 2021. Needs assessment on the current state of CSE for Young People with in distance solutions in the delivery of CSE, including but
Disabilities in the East and Southern African region. https://cse-learning-platform- not limited to WhatsApp chatbot, television lessons, and
unesco.org/digital-library/needs-assessment-current-state-cse-young-people- interactive radio lessons remain instrumental in reaching
disabilities-esa-region-regional larger numbers across these countries, especially during
periods of school closure.

© UNESCO

12

Teacher training Although the cumulative target was not met, 2021 marked
the year with the highest number of teachers trained since
Another major highlight was the training of pre-service the inception of the O3 Programme.
teachers. The institutionalization of CSE in teacher training
colleges across a number of countries has resulted in The target was not realized in part due to face-to-face
nearly double the targeted number of pre-service teachers training in 2020 and early 2021 not being feasible as a result
being equipped with skills and knowledge to deliver of COVID-19 restrictions and school closures, and in part due
CSE. In the same vein, training of teacher educators on to limited access to internet and smart phones or computers
CSE remained a key priority, resulting in approximately by teachers, which slowed down the pace of online training.
36,322 pre-service teachers reached in 2021. Of this figure, Although ministries of education worked to put measures
programme acceleration countries contributed to 83% of in place to address some of the challenges related to online
the total number of pre-service teachers trained, while focus teacher training, there were inevitable delays. Further, schools
countries accounted for the remainder. Of all the programme remained closed for the better part of 2021 in a few countries
acceleration countries, Nigeria and Zambia contributed the where some activities, including teacher training, were not
most, while Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire were the top two viable.
among the focus countries.
Overall, focus countries contributed to 92.5% of the in-
In-service teacher training was also accelerated during the service teachers trained in the year, while programme
year to simultaneously compensate for the previous year’s acceleration countries accounted for the remainder. Of
training challenges and accelerate delivery of good quality the focus countries, the top three contributors were Cote
CSE in schools. d’Ivoire, Lesotho, and Mali, while for programme acceleration
countries these were Ghana, Malawi, and Nigeria.

©©UstNoEcSk.CaOdobe.com

13

Results per objective

Objective 1: Secure and sustain The renewed Commitment was only endorsed by 10
strong political commitment and signatory countries at the time, and efforts are now
support for AYP’s access to CSE and underway, in collaboration with the Regional Economic
sexual and reproductive health Communities (RECs), to afford the remaining 11 countries
(SRH) services across sub-Saharan an opportunity to endorse the Commitment. For those
Africa that countries that have already endorsed the renewed
Commitment, there was overwhelming support and
Several successes were realized towards advancing agreement that its agenda remains relevant for the region.
investments in the education, health, and well-being of
AYP in SSA. Against a headwind of increasingly organized “Despite the progress achieved from 2013 to date,
opposition to CSE in both the ESA and WCA regions, notable we are aware of the gaps that still exist in our
achievements were the affirmation and endorsement of efforts and the new challenges obstructing our
the renewed ESA Commitment and convening of national efforts. South Africa notes the unacceptably high
consultations in 14 WCA countries, resulting in a draft WCA HIV prevalence among adolescent girls and young
Commitment document. Through frequent and widespread women, high numbers of early and unintended
consultation, civil society, including the faith community, pregnancies among girls aged 10-19, and the
actively supported efforts to ensure that there is a common gender-based violence during the COVID-19
understanding of the issues faced by AYP and a consistent lockdown period. As a country, we welcomed
voice calling for accelerated action in support of adolescent and agreed to the regional call to extend the ESA
SRHR (ASRHR) and education programmes. Commitment to 2030.”
UNESCO continued its role in brokering opportunities for
parents and young people to constructively engage in - South African Deputy Minister of Basic Education,
the delivery of and demand for CSE and ASRH services Dr Reginah Mhaule
by supporting parent-child communication, fostering
dialogue through a variety of media, and engaging with “We call on and rally all development partners and
community structures. Further, an essential milestone under well-wishers to come on board and ride with us in
this objective was the inception of the development of the the renewed ship that is headed to a land where
Continental Strategy on Education for Health and Well-being, our adolescents and young people are healthier
which provides a unifying framework for African countries to and more productive, as we continue to champion
ensure that all young people acquire the knowledge, skills, inclusive development of our societies. Zanzibar
values, and attitudes that enable citizens to lead healthy and will use this opportunity to reinvigorate its efforts
fulfilled lives, make informed decisions, and respond to local to end AIDS and reduce - if not eliminate - early
and global challenges. and unintended pregnancies, gender-based
violence, child marriage, and therefore make
Renewal and endorsement of ESA Zanzibar a more prosperous and happier society.”
Commitment 2021-2030
- Zanzibar Minister of Education and Vocational Training,
Endorsement of the renewed ESA Commitment Hon Simai Mohamed

The renewed ESA Commitment was affirmed and endorsed
by ministers of education, health, gender, and youth at a
high-level virtual meeting which took place as a side event at
the International Conference on HIV and STIs in Africa (ICASA)
on 6 December 2021.

14

The participation of civil society in building support for In addition, regional stakeholders and members of the
the renewal of the ESA Commitment was particularly WCA Commitment High-Level Committee met virtually in
noteworthy. Through the leadership of the Southern Africa September 2021 to review the draft Commitment content
HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) in order to lay the basis for an improved version to be
and Frontline AIDS, serving SADC and EAC respectively, submitted to the ministers of health and education in 2022.
over 200 CSOs and youth organizations mobilized support The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss the last steps
for the Commitment through vibrant social media towards the endorsement of the Commitment.
campaigns on CSE and advocacy activities targeting
parliamentarians, traditional leaders, religious leaders, Finally, UNESCO was at the forefront of discussions
and parents. In addition, 270 civil CSOs released a call to throughout the year to strengthen the links and
action demanding governments promote and prioritize collaboration between the WCA Commitment process and
meaningful participation of AYP, scale up CSE, promote the Education Plus Initiative. UNESCO used several events
universal access to youth-friendly SRH services, support and platforms to host discussions on these links, including
enabling policy environments for ASRHR, and put in place the High-Level Regional Summit for HIV and AIDS in WCA
robust accountability frameworks. In a similar demonstration and the African Girl’s Summit, as well as monthly Education
of strong support, 86 religious leaders drawn from various Plus global meetings and meetings of the UNAIDS country
faiths and representing 12 ESA countries pledged support for directors in Education Plus champion countries. While these
the renewal of the ESA Commitment and made meaningful efforts have led to much more synergy, there is still much to
contributions on crucial issues for prioritization in the do to bring these two parallel processes together entirely.
renewed Commitment.
Development of the Continental Strategy on
Progress towards the WCA Commitment Education for Health and Well-being

Led by UNESCO, the regional TWG for the WCA Commitment The development of the Continental Strategy on EHW, an
supported 14 national consultations on the situation of their important step towards advancing a cohesive approach
AYP under the authority of ministries in charge of education to addressing health priorities within the education sector
and health. Consultations provided an opportunity to across Africa, will be guided by a core advisory group. The
strengthen advocacy for CSE at national level, boost group will also support consultative processes with relevant
coordination among partners, and update joint plans to stakeholders to ensure country-level interest and ownership
improve programmes on CSE and SRH services. across the African Union (AU) sub-regions.

The TWG finalized a report on the regional situation of AYP The strategy is expected to guide countries in planning,
which, together with 24 country factsheets and PowerPoint implementing, and monitoring progress towards more
presentations that depict national data on SRHR, GBV, child unified EHW programmes that are locally responsive to the
marriage, quality of SRH services, gender equality in health needs of learners by framing the four content pillars that
decision-making, and gender disparities in education, comprise EHW, while establishing the components and
provides a strong evidence base for the Commitment minimum standards for countries to follow. The four pillars
process. are:

The TWG will further ensure that the process towards the 1. Skills-based sexual and reproductive health education
Commitment benefits from broad, joint, and consistent 2. Safe, non-violent, inclusive, and effective learning
support from all TFPs and stakeholders at both country
and regional level. In this vein, the TWG has also elected a environments for all
third co-chair, Equipop, along with UNESCO and UNFPA, 3. Promoting healthy eating and drinking, and physical
in order to add civil society among its leadership, and
ensure that at least two co-chairs are always available to activity and sports
sign correspondence and represent the group. Equipop, a 4. Substance use
coalition of 20 CSOs based in WCA, was selected based on
its very active role in the Commitment process since 2018. The strategy will be finalized in 2022 will be an indispensable
This has been instrumental in garnering and formalizing the tool in the hands of countries seeking to operationalize the
involvement of civil society in the process in a region where ESA Commitment and the WCA Commitment in the coming
various sensitivities exist and rigorous consensus-building years.
among a wide range of stakeholders is necessary to move
forward.

15

Engaging with parents, guardians, traditional In WCA, the role of faith-based and traditional leadership
and religious leaders for improved as the custodians of values and knowledge about ASRHR
understanding of and support for CSE was reflected in numerous outreach activities as well. In
Cameroon and Nigeria, for example, more than 21,250
Walking hand in hand with parents as enablers and co- traditional chiefs and community and religious leaders
facilitators of CSE reached through information and mobilization sessions were
subsequently equipped with first-hand, reliable information
Parents, guardians, and caregivers have always played on ASRHR and CSE programmes. Improved understanding
a crucial role when it comes to CSE. As such, countries of CSE among key influencers within communities such
have strengthened their efforts to mobilize them through as these is an important achievement, as it will reduce the
various capacity-building and awareness-raising activities likelihood of falsehoods perpetuated by opponents of CSE
implemented in partnership with local organizations, from taking root.
parent-teacher associations (PTAs), and school governing
bodies in SSA. Recognizing the value of providing support Keeping young people at the forefront through
to this important cohort to enable them to have meaningful traditional and digital media
conversations about SRH with their adolescent and young
adult wards, UNESCO therefore scaled up efforts to engage As key actors of CSE, and to ensure their significant
with them on CSE through the implementation of PCC engagement within the O3 Programme, AYP CSOs were
programmes. also an integral part of this mobilization process. Through
a suite of interventions on television, radio, social media,
In addition to reaching 1,768 parents from Botswana, mobile applications, and call centres, more than 35 million
Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, and Tanzania with in- and out-of-school young people in SSA received crucial
training on the 'Our Talks' PCC manual, a toolkit modelled on information about CSE; SRH; gender equality; human rights;
the ‘Our Talks’ manual was also successfully used to facilitate physical, psychological, and pubertal development; and
PCC in Nigeria. Furthermore, across both ESA and WCA, power in relationships between women and men. These
22,261 PTAs, mothers' associations, and school management interventions have contributed to building young people’s
committees were mobilized in support of CSE provision self-efficacy to avoid risky behaviours, make informed
in schools and equipped with information and skills to decisions, communicate effectively, and develop respectful
complement school-based efforts to provide young people relationships.
with CSE and linkages to SRH services. In 2022, the ‘Our
Talks’ manual will be digitized and repackaged to increase In addition to improving young people’s knowledge and
accessibility in order to facilitate its rollout. competencies, the O3 Programme has leveraged partnerships
with other organizations to link young people to appropriate
Harnessing the influence and support of religious, services, such as HIV testing and counselling, SRH services,
traditional, and community leaders and legal and social protection services. In regions like WCA,
where the proportion of out-of-school AYP is the highest
The role of religious, traditional, and community leaders in the world, such modalities for engagement are much
in shaping norms and values related to ASRHR as well needed and a worthwhile investment of resources. For
the information and education young people receive in instance, the ‘Let’s talk, period’ digital campaign, which was
preparation for adult life has long been recognized. UNESCO’s conducted from October 2020 to May 2021 in collaboration
concerted efforts to engage with these stakeholders with UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Health Organization (WHO),
over the course of the O3 Programme has therefore been and the French Muskoka Fund to raise awareness around
an important strategy, as evidenced by the increased and support behavioural change related to menstrual health
commitment of religious leaders to sensitize and educate and hygiene in nine countries10, reached 16,589,883 people
their constituents and to support national authorities to through TV, radio, and social media.
address the challenges of the region by improving young
people’s access to CSE and SRH services through the regional
commitment processes in ESA and WCA. Indeed, the 734
religious leaders from seven ESA countries9 who were trained
using the Religious Leaders Toolkit are now serving as
community educators and addressing their congregants on
SRH issues, such as EUP, GBV, and menstrual health hygiene.

9 Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. 10 Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.

16

CSE-related opposition: Analysis, mapping, and Key recommendations from the analysis include:
responses
• Ensuring consistent use of locally accepted terminology
Several countries in SSA have faced resistance to CSE, while and packaging for CSE.
past crises at country level have had long lasting effects on
programming and participation in regional commitments. • Mainstreaming CSE into all related advocacy as a
For instance, Ghana, Mali, and Senegal are yet to engage in common prevention strategy (for example, SRHR, child
the WCA Commitment process, and in the ESA region, several marriage, HIV, and GBV).
countries were targeted by the opposition in the lead up to
the endorsement of the ESA Commitment, including Malawi, • Cultivating support with non-ruling parties to avoid later
South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia. As such, improved politicizing of CSE as one party's issue.
understanding of the nature and extent of CSE opposition as
well as how best to ensure that there is continued support • Conducting in-country mapping and analysis to
for CSE programmes in sub-Saharan Africa is critical. understand better major religious networks, the position
of leaders, and potential allies and supporters who can
To address this, UNESCO led the analysis and mapping of positively influence others.
CSE-related opposition through a global landscape analysis
of the opposition as well as the responses, good practices, • Supporting youth-led CSOs to apply effective advocacy
and lessons learnt in six countries.11 Findings from this practices.
exercise revealed that opposition to CSE was driven either by
conservative CSOs or by religious leaders. • Supporting scale-up of parent engagement activities
as part of CSE rollout and developing local packages of
Actions driven by CSOs appeared to be better organized, video and print materials for circulation through social
with similar tactics and alignment to right-wing organizations media to raise awareness of the need for CSE.
promoting a 'pro-family' movement internationally. This
organized opposition derives its power from messages about Based on the results of the CSE-related opposition analysis
morality and cultural and traditional values, and uses that to and mapping, a number of approaches were employed, as
polarize people. follows:

Opposition generally gathers momentum during pre- Adapting CSE nomenclature to the WCA context
election periods or regional events, such as the renewal of
the ESA Commitment. Lastly, a lack of understanding of CSE WCA countries have been teaching different components
and its concepts allows misinformation to thrive. of CSE for decades through programmes often referred to
as Family Life Education (FLE), Life Skills Education (LSE),
For countries that were able to successfully respond to the and Reproductive Health Education (RHE). While there
opposition, lessons learnt included: is consensus on the need for comprehensive education
programmes to address issues such as EUP, SRH, and GBV
• Convening national consultations to build support at the among others, there is persistent sensitivity in the region
national level with policy-makers and religious leaders. on the use of the term “comprehensive sexuality education”
in reference to such programmes. Opponents of CSE have
• Using public figures or local champions to effectively used these sensitivities as a rallying point to perpetuate
reach parents. disinformation opposing health education programmes,
making it challenging for many important stakeholders of
• Using media-based responses, such as press releases. the WCA Commitment to support the regional process.
• Training of journalists to ensure more objective and
The WCA Commitment TWG therefore decided to use
better-informed reporting. the terms Comprehensive Education and Information
• Developing radio/television series on CSE or related (CEI) instead of CSE, while clearly defining its concepts
in accordance with the standard international definition
topics to reach a wider audience. published in the UN International Technical Guidance
on Sexuality Education (ITGSE). The choice for this new
terminology, applied to the WCA Commitment’s text and
supporting documents, was motivated by the common
acceptance of the region’s countries to use the terminology
“comprehensive information and education” in the
framework of the Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS:
Ending inequalities and Getting on Track to End AIDS by
2030, which was issued in June 2021.

11 Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia.

17

CSE in the digital space: Hello Ado

In May 2020, in order to meet the challenge of providing the WCA population under the age of 24 with information
on CSE and SRHR, UNESCO and its partners launched a French-language mobile application called Hello Ado. The
application aims to equip AYP with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills for healthier, safer, and more respectful
social and sexual relationships, as well as improve their access to SRH services and legal and judicial protection
and support. The innovation was developed by placing AYP at the centre of the design process to ensure that the
functionality and content are tailored to their expectations. Hello Ado provides a digital service for AYP in all their
diversity, including those at higher risk of exposure to HIV, pregnancy, or GBV.

By the endo of 2021 Hello Ado had achieved moderate results, having reached more than 1,725 AYP of both sexes
(52% of which were boys and 48% girls), but numbers are quickly growing due to a lively promotion through social
media. With UNESCO and its partner Réseau Africain pour l’Éducation et la Santé (RAES) actively promoting Hello
Ado through youth networks and social media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok) in accordance with
the communication strategy developed by the Hello Ado steering committee, the data from social media user
engagement campaigns is encouraging. For example, the four publications per week in post and story formats
increased interactions and reactions among the target audience, as shown by the Facebook reach of 13,115.

While this commonly accepted terminology has been used Recapturing the narrative: Strategic communication
at the regional level, UNESCO and partners continue to through media and targeted campaigns
support countries in their implementation of programmes
adapted to their specific contexts, and in communicating Recognizing media as a primary resource for dissemination
about such programmes using the chosen national of information and empowering audiences to effect change
terminology, vocabulary, and priorities. The ITGSE continues at different levels, UNESCO convened a virtual capacity-
to be a key reference for countries as they work to improve building training for journalists and media personnel from 12
the depth and breadth of their programmes for both in- and countries.12
out-of-school AYP.
12 Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Kenya, Malawi, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan,
18 Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The training equipped a total of 86 journalists and Teacher training
media personnel with skills to promote and accurately
communicate issues around the ESA Commitment, as well In-service teacher training was conducted in 19 countries13
as enhanced their knowledge on CSE to ensure they were in ESA and WCA, reaching 133,948 in-service teachers in
capacitated enough to disseminate accurate information and total. Almost all (99.5%) were trained in-person, but a small
debunk myths and misconceptions on CSE, especially given number (645 in ESA) were trained via the CSE online course.
the increasing opposition witnessed in some countries across The number of teachers trained on CSE in the year represents
the region ahead of the endorsement ceremony. a marked increase in comparison to those trained in 2020,
and brought the total number of teachers trained since the
In addition, in response to and based on the lessons learnt inception of the O3 Programme to 188,935.
from the studies on opposition to CSE and the experiences in
the lead up to the ESA Commitment, the WCA Commitment As part of efforts to gather feedback on experiences of
TWG developed a communication and advocacy strategy for and outcomes from the CSE online course, a brief survey
creating an enabling environment for CSE programmes and was administered to some of the teachers who previously
addressing the challenges posed by the opposition. The TWG participated. Overall, the feedback was positive feedback, as
is also developing a campaign with the aim of conveying a demonstrated by the quote below:
positive discourse around CSE and disseminating impactful
messages around the urgency for countries to develop “The course was beneficial and an eye-opener to
CSE programmes. The campaign, which includes a strong my school and me as it disclosed more life skills
advocacy component, will be implemented in the first issues. As a teacher, I am using the knowledge
quarter of 2022 and ahead of the WCA Commitment acquired during that course in the teaching
ceremony. process. Further, the knowledge acquired during
the course is being used in strengthening our CSE
Objective 2: Support the delivery club formulated (sic) at the school level.”
of accurate, rights-based, and
good quality CSE programmes that - Neema Nyirenda, Zambia
provide knowledge, values, and
skills essential for safer behaviours, To support further teacher training, the revamp of the CSE
reduced adolescent pregnancy, online course was finalized during the course of the year. The
and gender equality course was revised to be more interactive, responsive, and
engaging. In addition, French and Portuguese versions of
Enhancing the capacity of teachers to deliver good quality the nine learning modules currently available in English are
CSE through training remained a top priority in 2021, under development.
complemented with the development of teacher training
materials to aid teachers in the effective delivery of CSE. Moreover, as mentioned, the institutionalization of CSE in
Progressive steps were also taken to operationalize the teacher training colleges across a number of countries in
coaching and mentoring guidelines for teachers as part of the region has resulted in double the targeted number of
efforts to facilitate teacher support in CSE delivery. Some pre-service teachers being trained. In 2021, 36,322 pre-
notable efforts to improve the delivery of CSE for learners with service teachers were trained, bringing the total number of
disabilities were realized as well, including the use of evidence- pre-service teachers trained since the inception of the O3
based curriculum-implementation approaches to train Programme to 136,237.
teachers on CSE delivery for learners with disabilities and two
virtual regional workshops, which brought together experts
in the field of CSE and disability to exchange knowledge and
experiences on strategies to improve CSE delivery for learners
with disability in the ESA and WCA regions.

13 Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali,
Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania,
Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

19

Revision and development of teaching and This was aimed at helping learners to recover lost learning
learning material on CSE time due to school closures and progress to the next level.
Nevertheless, there were deliberate efforts to ensure that the
UNESCO also continued its efforts to support the revision abridged curriculum maintained key learning outcomes on
and development of teaching and learning materials on CSE and SRH, especially in the lower secondary curriculum.
CSE. In Nigeria, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zanzibar, for A total of 150 curriculum developers were involved in this
example, training manuals, implementation plans, facilitator's exercise and covered a total of 44 subjects.
guides, and teacher's guides were updated, and in Zambia,
Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe, CSE materials, training manuals, In WCA, on the other hand, there is still resistance to be
guides, and learning materials were translated into local overcome in improving the acceptability of CSE among key
languages and rendered more disability-friendly to improve gatekeepers in some cases. As such, much of the focus in
accessibility. In addition, as outlined earlier, countries have these countries was on stakeholder engagement as well as
generally diversified delivery modes for CSE beyond the small-scale training of in-service teachers on themes that
classroom and face-to-face teacher training and begun are less sensitive, such as SRGBV, pregnancy, and menstrual
investing more in distance solutions in response to both health.
the COVID-19 pandemic and the high cost of in-person
training. In WCA, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, and Nigeria Delivery of CSE for learners with disabilities
are among the most active countries investing in distance
training programmes in health education, while in ESA, Global evidence demonstrates that AYP with disabilities
Kenya, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, are among the most active continue to face a multitude of barriers in accessing CSE
countries investing in digital learning solutions. and SRH services at multiple levels.14,15 As a result, they do
not receive adequate information about puberty, sexuality,
Scaling up CSE delivery and healthy relationships, making them vulnerable to sexual
exploitation and denying them the right to enjoy good
In 2021, CSE delivery was accelerated with the reopening quality education and safe transition to adulthood. They are
of schools following the relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions. also more vulnerable to abuse, including sexual abuse, both
This was particularly apparent in WCA, as investments in the in school and out of school settings.16,17,18 Available data
first countries that joined the O3 Programme began gaining further shows that AYP with disabilities are less likely to be in
momentum and newer countries started contributing, school, and more likely to drop out of school, and therefore
resulting in the reported number of schools providing CSE in opportunities to engage with CSE in the school environment
the region totalling 20,515 by the end of 2021. Moreover, the are likely to be more limited.19, 20
number of pre-service teachers trained jumped from 8,553
in 2020 to 31,532 in 2021, with the subsequent number of Recognizing these existing gaps and challenges, UNESCO
learners reached with CSE likewise increasing dramatically, implemented a number of activities to advance the delivery
from 96,426 in 2020 to 6,659,683 in 2021. Together with the of CSE for learners with disabilities. Notable efforts included
23,542,449 learners that received CSE in ESA, this brought the the ToT for teachers in Malawi and Zimbabwe on the BtS
total to 30,202,132 learners reached across both regions. approach for delivering CSE to learners with disabilities,
virtual regional workshops on CSE for learners with
While coverage of CSE delivery has increased, there is a disabilities for over 200 stakeholders in SSA, and in-country
recognition of the need for further support with respect to training of curriculum developers, teacher educators, and
active, learner-centred pedagogical techniques as well as school supervisors on delivery of CSE for learners with
the need for good quality teaching and learning materials disabilities.
to improve the quality of CSE and its outcomes. For instance,
Nigeria improved the quality of CSE through a curriculum 14 UNFPA, Experiences of young persons with disabilities in accessing sexual and
review and integration of topics not covered in enough reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services: A focus on South Africa with insights from
depth, such as SRGBV, EUP, SRH, and harmful practices. young persons with disabilities from other East and Southern African countries. 2017.
Some countries also developed implementation and lesson
plans in order to support teachers to feel more comfortable 15 Ganle, J.K., et al., Barriers facing persons with disability in accessing sexual and
and confident to teach the lessons. However, the effect reproductive health services in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review. 2020.
of COVID-19 was still present in a number of countries,
although some were able to take measures towards 16 Devries M Karen, et al., Violence against primary school children with disabilities in
recovery from learning loss. In Uganda, for example, UNESCO Uganda: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2014.
partnered with the National Curriculum Development Centre
to repackage the teaching curriculum into an abridged 17 Jones, L., et al., Prevalence and risk of violence against children with disabilities: a
curriculum for each learning area from Primary 1 to Senior 6. systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. 2012.

18 UNFPA, Young persons with disabilities: global study on ending gender-based violence,
and realising sexual and reproductive health and rights at https://www.unfpa.org/sites/
default/files/resource-pdf/Final_Global_Study_Summary_English_3_Oct.pdf. 2018.

19 Kuper, H., et al., The Impact of Disability on the Lives of Children; Cross-Sectional
Data Including 8,900 Children with Disabilities and 898,834 Children without
Disabilities across 30 Countries. 2014.

20 World Health Organization and World Bank, World Report on Disability 2011, WHO:
Geneva.

20

UNESCO collaborated with the FAWE, Humanity and © UNESCO
Inclusion, Leonard Cheshire, London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine, and the South Africa Medical Research
Council (SAMRC) to convene the two virtual workshops,
which provided an opportunity for stakeholders to engage,
share knowledge, and exchange good practices with each
other on the provision of CSE and SRH services for young
people with disabilities. Participants also reflected on the
inclusiveness of their country policies, teacher training
materials, and curricula, among other issues. They were
encouraged to support specific initiatives to empower
and strengthen the capacities of AYP with disabilities and
promote the inclusion of disability in a cross-cutting manner
in all development actions, programmes, and policies.

Over 200 participants, including representatives from
government, CSOs, organizations for people with disabilities
(OPDs), and FTPs from 24 countries, attended the workshops,
which were held in May and August 2021 in WCA and ESA
respectively.

As a result of the WCA workshop, the integration of AYP with
disabilities in CSE programmes was further enhanced in
several countries. For example, in Cameroon and DRC, 195
supervisors of schools for people with disabilities, curriculum
designers, and inspectors in charge of in-service teacher
training received capacity-building on the needs of AYP
with disabilities and the production of teaching materials
adapted to these needs, while in Nigeria, over 800 learners
with disabilities from Federal Capital Territory and Benue
benefitted from weekly Family Life and HIV Education (FLHE)
lessons. Moreover, inclusion of disability-friendly CSE has not
only reached young people and the teaching profession. In
Ghana, for instance, over 500 parents and guardians received
training to better understand the SRH needs of AYP with
disabilities.

“Sometimes, because of the nature of our disabled
children, we do not know how to support them
with reproductive health education, but this
training has enlightened me.”

- PTA member, Ghana

© UNESCO

21

© UNESCO Objective 3: Ensure that schools
and community environments are
© UNESCO safer, healthier, and inclusive for all
young people

Supporting the education sector response to
COVID-19

UNESCO continued to leverage its expertise on health
education to support education sector responses to
COVID-19 through assistance to governments to ensure
safe return to school for teachers and learners; upscaling
of distance learning solutions; development of standard
guidelines on the prevention and management of COVID-19
in schools; and provision of PSS for teachers and learners.

In terms of ensuring the safe return to school for boys and
girls, at regional level UNESCO supported the integration of
the Back to School and ‘Let’s Talk’ campaign, becoming the
‘On the Crossroads’ campaign. The integrated campaign was
designed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led
to massive school closures worldwide. It aimed to encourage
parents, guardians, and community members to advocate for
the continuation of education for young people.

The campaign also sought to highlight that, while many
schools may re-open, some factors, including social norms,
may hinder young people from returning and getting an
education. Campaign materials included various social
media assets that were developed and translated into local
languages for grassroots reach through collaboration with
Roth Communications. In addition, a six-part radio drama
is currently under production. In 2022, the radio drama will
be rolled out in four languages, namely, English, French,
Portuguese, and Swahili, and will be accompanied by social
media posts and jingles to drive traffic to the series. An
adaptation guide for translating the audio stories into local
languages and linking these stories to the ‘Let's Talk’ regional
EUP campaign will also be developed and disseminated.
Lastly, various media training on rolling out the campaign
and reaching communities that do not have access to digital
platforms will be conducted in select SADC countries.

At country level, UNESCO supported the safe return to
school by publishing and distributing the COVID-19 School
Reopening Guide, as well as by procuring hand washing
points, face masks, alcohol-based sanitizers, infrared
thermometers, and COVID-19 booklets for learners in
selected resource-poor schools. In Senegal, the Keeping
Girls in School campaign addressed the gendered impact
of the pandemic on educational access by training media
and young people to advocate for girls to return to school.

22

Training-of-trainers on the Breaking the Silence approach

Informed by the recommendations from the five-country needs assessment study on CSE for learners with
disabilities conducted in 2020, UNESCO partnered with the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and
UNFPA to support a ToT on delivering CSE to young people with disabilities in Malawi and Zimbabwe using the BtS
approach. While the approach was developed in South Africa, in collaboration with organizations for people with
disabilities, educators, the Department of Education, and researchers, it has also been benchmarked against the
Sexuality Education Review and Analysis Tool (SERAT).

The BtS approach was developed in response to educators’ needs, and aims to provide them with training on CSE
for learners with disabilities, including addressing normative beliefs and increasing facilitation skills to provide CSE in
accessible formats. It is an evidence-based curriculum-implementation approach targeting CSE delivery for learners
with different types of disabilities in and out of schools, drawing on social learning theory. The approach uses group-
based learning through participatory methods and a whole school and community view to capacity-building of
educators, inclusive of parent, peer, and community support. It implements the principles of universal design and
reasonable accommodation, and its tool and material suggestions are suitable for well-resourced and resource-poor
settings.

The training explored participants’ beliefs and values related to sexuality and disability and equipped them with
knowledge about sexual development and the needs of learners with disabilities, the active learning methods
available to facilitate CSE for AYP with disabilities, and which support structures are needed to facilitate CSE both
within the school and community environments, alongside a whole school approach. A trauma-informed approach
to CSE was also emphasized during the training, and participants were capacitated with skills to address sexual
abuse and bullying, which learners with disabilities experience more in comparison to their counterparts. Further,
the training covered strategies on engaging parents of learners with disabilities in CSE delivery, listening to their
concerns, and providing them with clear information about CSE content.

The training sessions were attended by 35 participants in Zimbabwe and 38 in Malawi, comprising of school heads,
school support staff, teachers, and representatives from the ministries of education, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), and other development partners.

In 2022, training of teachers using BtS will be scaled up across the ESA region to equip more teachers with skills and
knowledge to deliver CSE to learners with disabilities.

As a result, for example, radio and television programmes UNESCO therefore worked with ministries of education
broadcast a variety of topical messages explaining the across all Programme countries to ensure the delivery of CSE
protective effect of education against the risks to the well- to learners through the use of digital channels and television
being of vulnerable girls posed by the pandemic, while and radio programmes aired on stations with national
community-based dialogues with religious and community coverage.
leaders addressed prevalent gender disparities in education.
Further activities are scheduled for 2022. Another success was the upgrade of the increasingly popular
WhatsApp chatbot Dzidzo Paden|Imfundo Endlini through
Upscaling of digital platforms and traditional the development of additional e-content covering learning
media to deliver learning areas across all grades. Dzidzo Paden|Imfundo Endlini is an
innovative learning initiative for disseminating educational
Although school closures from 2020 into early 2021 resources to learners in Zimbabwe by providing on-demand
negatively impacted on delivery of all education, while other access to educational materials for students including exam
subjects continued to be taught through electronic and print tips, past exam papers, and marking schemes. To date, the
media, CSE remained without space, thus giving rise to the platform has been used by 67,642 learners.
need to develop multimedia lessons to bridge that gap.

23

© UNESCO

Story A - Youth with disibility testimony

"The reason why I am writing this story is because I have experienced a lot of challenges in my education as a person
with disabilities. The first day I reported for school I was happy thinking that everyone would understand me just like
my family at home.

Soon after the head teacher showed me where my classroom was, immediately after I entered, the pupils were so
surprised to see a person in a wheelchair. Because I looked so different from them, some pupils spit saliva at me,
others were even scared, some pupils were mocking me, they even refused to sit next to me.

During break time when I was alone, a group of pupils decided to push me off my wheelchair. Immediately I was
taken to the hospital and given an operation. After a month I was discharged from the hospital, so I went hom and I
decided to give up school, but my parents encouraged me not to drop out from school but to change the school.

The next day my parents went to get the transfer but the head teacher and the members of staff refused because
they promised my parents that it will never happen again. The next day I reported back to school all the pupils
apologised to me and my parents. At the end all the pupils understood me better, cared for me, loved and
supported me.

24

UNESCO further supported ministries of education to train “Because l looked so different from them, some
teachers on PSS in order to equip them with the skills pupils started laughing, some pupils spit saliva
and knowledge to effectively provide this critical support at me, others were even scared, some pupils were
to learners and other teachers at school. The pandemic mocking me, they even refused to sit next to me.”
brought with it a mental health crisis due to factors such as
bereavement, isolation, and fear, and thus the importance of - Young person living with a disability from Zambia
this work cannot be overemphasized.
Respondents reported an increase in cyber-bullying as well,
Addressing school violence and bullying particularly in urban communities and among teenage
against learners with disabilities children, due to increased usage of phones and social
media. While stronger consequences have been put in
In order to address school violence and bullying (SVB) place for physical bullying and violence over time (including
against learners with disabilities in the ESA region, UNESCO expulsions from schools), emotional and social bullying is
collaborated with Leonard Cheshire Disability on a project still widely unrestrained. In light of the research findings, the
in five countries21 in which the following activities were following needs have been identified:
conducted:
• The reviewing of education acts and policies to ensure
• Qualitative research on SVB against learners with alignment to the United Nations Convention on the
disabilities, including capturing of testimonials from Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD);
youth with disabilities;
• Protection for children with disabilities against SVB;
• Co-convening of a virtual cross-regional workshop on • Policies to outline the additional vulnerability of children
violence and bullying in schools;
with disabilities to SVB;
• Establishment of a procedural guidance document on • Strengthening of the inclusiveness of education systems
the collection of youth-led evidence on SVB involving
children and young people with disabilities. at every level of education;
• Provision of training, resources, and disability sensitization
The qualitative research revealed that all five countries have
policies supporting inclusive education as well as relatively to address the needs of learners with disabilities;
well-developed disability inclusion policies, which clearly • Clearer guidance at school-level on dealing with SVB,
identify the need for additional protection for people
with disabilities. However, children with disabilities are including anonymous reporting mechanisms in schools;
neither specifically mentioned as a population needing • Reduction of stigma and violence to extend beyond the
additional protections against school violence nor is school
violence and bullying highlighted as a particular context school and into the learners' broader ecosystem, that is,
of risk. Indeed, there were policy-implementation gaps parents and the wider community.
in all countries, specifically with regard to how disability
inclusion would be managed and monitored. In fact, the Promoting respect and gender equality in the
approaches and methods to evaluate and monitor policy classroom: Experiences in ESA and WCA
implementation were found to be a general weakness across
all countries. Following the successful pilot of the CwR tool in Eswatini,
Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, an analysis of experiences
In addition, data collected from the study countries suggest and outcomes was conducted, focusing on three of these
a wide prevalence of violence and bullying in schools across countries (Eswatini, Tanzania, and Zambia) and two from
all disability types and that children with disabilities are Asia Pacific (Thailand and Timor Leste). The analysis revealed
particularly vulnerable to abuse and bullying from peers and that there is a need for schools to teach learners about the
elders. In Botswana, for instance, several learners, parents, prevention of GBV, and thus further educative work to raise
and other interviewees indicated that violence and bullying awareness about the patterns, prevalence, and impact of
of children with disabilities is widely prevalent in schools. GBV is required. Indeed, over three-quarters of learners
Moreover, they saw poor inclusive education systems and (77%) participating in the CwR lessons already reported
structures as creating imbalances of power which caused improved relationship skills, which they described as being
school violence and bullying. more respectful. The CwR programme was also found to be
impactful in shifting some of the gendered expectations
21 Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia. about the share of household duties.

25

Specifically, there was an increase in the number of students Developing enabling policy and regulatory
who agreed that males and females should do equal chores environments for safe school environments
at home (71.9% of students in the pre-implementation
survey and 76.9% of students in the post-implementation Recognizing that national laws and education policies play
survey). However, there was only a 3% decrease in the a key role in establishing safe school environments, UNESCO
number of learners who did not think a man should beat his provided technical support towards the development of
wife if she argues with him, highlighting the need to focus on the National Safe School Policy in Ghana, which will ensure
prevention of spousal violence and family violence. that all public schools have rules and regulations to promote
safe schools. CSO partners oriented 170 schools and 350
The study also revealed that there was a significant stakeholders from 15 districts in 2021 to adopt rules and
improvement in learners’ help-seeking attitudes and regulations. In DRC, 1,080 community leaders were mobilized
behaviours, with an increase in the proportion of learners on SRGBV and the fight against impunity of perpetrators, and
who reported knowing how to seek help for those subjected capacity-building was carried out with 60 national trainers
to GBV as well as the number who indicated that they on the mechanisms for managing complaints related to
would seek help if they were affected by GBV at school. In SRGBV.  In Nigeria, UNESCO, together with UN Women and
addition, mobilization of schools and engagement of parents UNFPA, supported the Federal MoE to domesticate the
and caregivers through the provision of positive parenting UNESCO-UN Women global guidance on addressing SRGBV.
training was shown to support significant behavioural The documenting will be published and disseminated
change across countries. Recommendations from the to schools starting with the Federal Unity Colleges for
analysis include the provision of professional training for guidance in addressing SRGBV-related issues. In addition,
teachers before and during implementation and additional conjunction with the Spotlight Initiative, UNESCO supported
resource support for the delivery of the programme, such as collaboration between Nigerian schools and health facilities
pictures, videos, pamphlets, posters, and stickers. and linking schools to relevant services on SRGBV and CSE in
basic and secondary schools. This has fostered relationships
In WCA, Senegal and Togo, with support from UNESCO, between schools and health facilities and established referral
developed two training modules for teachers and student pathways to services.
teachers on responding to sexual and gender-based violence
(SGBV). The modules were revised in 2021 to strengthen Objective 4: Strengthen the
content on understanding different forms of violence and evidence base on CSE and safer
increasing learning outcomes at different stages of the school environments
school cycle. For example, 12 lesson plans were adapted to
the official framework to provide concrete indications on Research has continued to be an important arm of work
the operationalization of active pedagogical techniques in playing a pivotal role in evidence-informed programming,
the teaching-learning process, focusing on implementing decision-making, and policy-making in SSA. Nearly 60
positive discipline techniques adapted to the learners’ age research pieces and evaluations have been commissioned
and level of study. since the inception of the O3 Programme, including baselines
and midline evaluations and regional and country level
Building on the positive results of previous trainings and syntheses, analyses, and assessments to advance evidence
following the capacity-building of a group of trainers, 580 on CSE.
teachers from 203 schools were trained in February and
March 2021 in Togo and 792 teachers from 25 elementary Key highlights for 2021 include the O3 Programme MTR, an
schools in Senegal in May 2021. The resulting total of 1,372 endline evaluation of the ‘Let's Talk!’ campaign, a study on the
teachers from 328 schools means at least 30,000 learners impact of COVID-19 on the SRHR of AYP, and the review of
can now be reached. In other countries, such as Burkina more than 100 laws and policies related to SRHR. Building the
Faso and Niger, the response to SRGBV was initiated through capacity of the education sector to generate and use timely
pilot testing of the augmented version of the Analysis and and reliable evidence on education for health and well-being
Imagery of Education Response to SRGBV (AnImRS). Through and gender equality is a role that UNESCO continues to play,
this participatory tool, key areas requiring strengthening in and significant advances were made in this regard in WCA.
national responses to SRGBV were identified and will form In addition, the update and maintenance of the CSE RLP was
the basis of further work. prioritized to ensure the continuous exchange of information
across countries in both ESA and WCA.

26

Table 1: Global core indicators

No. Indicator Data source
ASC
Global core indicators ASC
ASC
GC2 [Process] Percentage of educational institutions that have rules and guidelines for staff and ASC
students related to physical safety, stigma and discrimination and sexual harassment and
abuse that have been communicated to relevant stakeholders.

GC3 [Process] Percentage of schools that provided life skills-based HIV and sexuality education in
the previous academic year. SDG4 thematic indicator 4.7.2

GC4 [Process] Percentage of schools that provided an orientation process for parents or guardians
of students regarding life skills-based HIV and sexuality education programmes in schools in
the previous academic year.

GC5 [Process] Percentage of schools with teachers who received training, and also taught lessons,
in life skills-based HIV and sexuality education in the previous academic year.

O3 Programme mid-term review Gaps and challenges identified by the MTR included
opposition to CSE, limited domestic funding for CSE, and
The O3 Programme MTR covering the period from 2018 to lack of standardized data collection methods, making
2020 was conducted to examine implementation progress, comparability of data between countries difficult. In addition,
opportunities, and challenges to be mitigated in the a shortage of staff implementing the Programme in several
remaining term of the Programme. The MTR used a mixed- countries and the absence of laws aligned to international
methods approach involving the following actions: and continental commitments had a significant impact on
the improvement of CSE education across study countries.
• Desk review; In response, one of the key recommendations emerging
• Interviews with 14 regional partners; from the MTR was to conduct a political, economic, and
• Case studies across six countries (Cameroon, Madagascar, situation analysis to map stakeholder power dynamics
(supportive, oppositional, neutral) and identify strategic entry
Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania) to provide points for dialogue in order to counteract false narratives.
in-depth qualitative data;
• Online stakeholder survey with 106 respondents. In terms of nationally-collected youth data, it was
recommended that critical issues like knowledge on HIV and
The MTR found that the O3 programme is well-aligned SRH issues, perceptions of GBV, and use of ASRH services
with national and regional ASRHR plans, strategies, and (including contraception) be incorporated. Moreover, it is
programmes and has successfully: important to deepen CSO engagement, develop a reference
framework for partners to understand youth participation
• Contributed to raising the political priority of CSE in many (with clear indicators and tools to ensure the meaningfulness
countries; of participation), prioritize the provision of support
mentorship, and support collaborative learning approaches
• Contributed to the delivery of quality and effective CSE; and teaching aids to accompany the Programme’s efforts to
• Promoted inclusive education principles across the deliver quality CSE and integrate CSE activities in national
plans and strategies.
education sector;
• Increased youth participation in programme

implementation and in advocacy through a variety of
channels, mechanisms, and structures;
• Facilitated regional mechanisms to support the exchange
of experiences and good practices between countries in
the same region;
• Increased visibility, awareness, and dialogue on issues of
GBV and EUP in the education sector.

27

Capacity-building on integration of EHW “Before this training, my knowledge of health and
indicators into the EMIS gender indicators was very limited. Now I have
a perfect understanding of the importance of
Given the magnitude of the challenges facing WCA, it is these indicators for education systems and I have
critical that the education sector be able to demonstrate also mastered their integration into EMIS and the
the progress and impact of its responses to some of the various analyses related to them.”
key risk factors that influence AYP health and educational
outcomes. To do this, accurate data on the scope and quality - Respondent, endline survey
of programmes designed to address barriers affecting the
current and future health and well-being of learners is crucial. ‘Let’s Talk!’ campaign endline evaluation
In view of this, national authorities expressed to UNESCO
the need to build capacity within the education system to In 2021, in collaboration with UNFPA, SAfAIDS and Save the
improve its readiness to produce and use good quality data. Children, UNESCO commissioned an endline evaluation
In response to these needs, the UNESCO Dakar cluster for of the regional ‘Let's Talk!’ EUP campaign. The evaluation
EHW, in partnership with the IIEP, conducted a training focused on assessing the campaign's relevance to the target
programme to build the capacity of relevant stakeholders in audiences, the effects of the campaign on knowledge,
the region. attitudes, norms, beliefs, self-efficacy, and practices among
the target audiences, and the self-reported impact of
Building on a regional training on the same topic conducted the campaign on the target audiences. The three sample
in 2018, the eight-month programme provided technical countries involved in the evaluation, namely Eswatini, Kenya,
assistance to countries wishing to integrate health and and Malawi, were purposively selected based largely on the
gender related indicators into their EMIS, with a specific focus level of implementation at the time of the evaluation.
on the integration of three internationally recognized core
indicators (see table 1) defined in UNESCO’s 2013 publication The evaluation established that the campaign was positively
entitled Measuring the Education Sector Response to HIV and received, with participants perceiving it as highly relevant,
AIDS: Guidelines for the construction and use of core indicators, especially in the context of the prevalence of EUPs in
as well as an additional fourth indicator related to teacher communities that was deemed to have been exacerbated
training. Beyond the integration of the core indicators, the by the COVID-19 pandemic. A prominent qualitative finding
programme also sought to provide capacity-building for from the evaluation was that the target audiences, including
data collection, analysis, and reporting in EMIS; equipping girls, teachers, and parents, acquired the knowledge that
technical officers to collect data using their annual school girls have SRHR, including the right to return to school after
census questionnaire; and manage and analyse the data pregnancy. There were strong testimonies from Malawi of
collected in order to ultimately inform national education young girls returning to school after pregnancy, and this
sector planning and policy. was attributed to the campaign’s focus on the school re-
admission policy.
In total, 106 professionals across the nine O3 Programme
acceleration and focus countries in WCA22 participated in the “They (re-admission policy provisions) are good,
Programme, which was conducted virtually. Country teams because if someone gets back to school after
were comprised of professionals from ministries responsible giving birth she can fix her future and have a vision
for policy and planning, health and HIV education, EMIS, on how she can manage her life because she
monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and statistics, as well as might learn through challenges she experienced
other key actors related to EHW, with 10 participants per while she was home with the pregnancy.”
team in general.
- Girl participant, Malawi
A final Programme evaluation found that overall, participants
had a positive experience in the Programme, indicating that
they now feel equipped to integrate and calculate the core
indicators; have a better understanding of the importance of
health and well-being related themes; improved their skills
in data analysis; and highly appreciated sharing experiences
and best practices with other countries.

22 Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and
Senegal.

28

© UNESCO

The evaluation also highlighted the role of parents in SRH However, although there were similar approaches in Eswatini,
among AYP, with quantitative findings suggesting that the these participants were generally pessimistic about the
campaign was associated with increased knowledge of sustainability of the campaign interventions once the
CSE and policies to support SRH for AYP, especially in Kenya funders and implementers withdrew.
and Malawi. In Kenya, the campaign was associated with
students' confidence in accessing modern contraception, Study on attitudes and perceptions of learners
while in Malawi, the negative impact of early pregnancy on and teachers on CSE
young people's futures and the important role of parents
were also associated with exposure to the campaign. Across In 2021, the six-country23 qualitative study to assess the
the three countries, it was clear that social media, in the attitudes, perceptions, and experiences of learners (including
context of the restrictive COVID-19 environment, not only those with disabilities) and teachers on CSE, which was
extended the reach of the campaign but also sparked debate commissioned in 2020, was finalized. The delay in the
and discussion among young people and contributed finalization of the study was a result of COVID-19 related
to behavioural and social change. Discussion is one of restrictions, which negatively impacted data collection.
the critical intermediary behaviours towards the change. The study also sought to examine community members'
However, there was little evidence to show that the social knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions on CSE, and the
media interventions reached the most vulnerable poor or linkages, if any, between schools and health facilities with
rural audiences, although community radios were used to regard to CSE. Some of the key findings are highlighted
reach the rural communities in Kenya and Malawi. below.

Lastly, the evaluation found that there was a generally 23 Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Malawi, Uganda, and Zambia.
positive outlook of the sustainability of the campaign
activities and outcomes in Kenya and Malawi through
integration into community structures and existing
programmes.

29

Attitudes and perceptions of learners “Sometimes due to communication barriers, I'm
not able to teach… because most of the concepts
The study found that learners had positive attitudes towards we use don't have signs, so when it gets there, it is
the teaching and learning of CSE and considered it as challenging to explain those concepts for them to
beneficial to them. They indicated that CSE prepares them understand.”
to confront the changes that come about as they transition
from childhood to adulthood. Learners perceived CSE as a - Junior high school teacher, Ghana (peri-urban)
gateway to attaining life goals through avoiding negative
outcomes of SRH risks, such as sexual relationships, early While most of the teachers were supportive of CSE, there was
sexual debut, EUP, HIV and other sexually transmitted some concern about the need to make sure that CSE content
infections (STIs), drug and substance abuse, and GBV. is age-appropriate. The general feeling and observations
were that the current CSE content tends to be too advanced
While the learners were generally positive towards CSE, they for younger learners, suggesting that, to the extent possible,
also expressed concerns about existing gaps in CSE delivery CSE content should be considerate of learners' mental and
by their teachers. Although most learners were of the view psychological development and maturity.
that their teachers were doing their best in delivering CSE,
some were nevertheless aware that the teachers often Community awareness of CSE
displayed signs of unease, discomfort, and sometimes
embarrassment in handling certain CSE topics because of The study established that the level of awareness of CSE
cultural factors, moral dilemmas, personal values, or lack of among community members who were interviewed is high,
training on CSE. especially in Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, and Uganda, with
most expressing confidence that they knew what the CSE
Attitudes and perceptions of teachers curriculum entailed. In addition, they indicated that they
approved of the teaching of CSE in schools as part of the
Teachers who participated in the study were unanimous school curriculum because they perceived it as excellent
about the necessity of teaching CSE in schools, and most and necessary for their children's learning, growth, and
felt that the topics currently covered by the CSE curriculum development. The level of awareness of CSE was not as
were appropriate. There was also consensus about the need high in Malawi, where it was clear from the narratives that
for learners to be exposed to some form of CSE from an early knowledge on CSE was limited to issues of sex and sexuality.
age in light of the general view that very little occurs in the Even though knowledge is high in Zambia, parents still
home through conversations on sexuality, which makes CSE wanted to know more about what AYP were learning in
a critical part of the schools' menu. schools. It was clear from these narratives with parents and
community leaders that their perception about CSE, perhaps
“…it is necessary at schools because at home, arising from lack of knowledge of its contents, was overall
communication is very limited, it is very difficult negative, as they expressed unhappiness that issues of sex
for their parents to teach them at home, so it and sexuality were being taught to their children in total
necessary that they get taught here in the school, disregard of their culture and traditions.
they are curious that they end up doing it, so we
do not want them to miss that opportunity so that Linkages between schools and health facilities
they may learn the risks of having sex.”
Overall, the study findings indicate that the linkages between
- Male teacher, Botswana (urban) the schools and health facilities were generally weak. The
results indicated that although there was a routine schedule
Teachers further noted that learners with special education followed by some of the schools and the health facilities
needs would benefit more as they were vulnerable to abuse. attached to the schools for the provision of information
They believed it is necessary for them to be empowered and outreach services, other schools did not have a
through the subject so that they are able to identify signs routine structure and instead relied more on invitations
and acts of abuse. However, a challenge cited was on the or arrangements with health facilities. Furthermore, long
delivery of CSE to the learners who are deaf, as sign language distances to the health facilities were highlighted as a
is limited with respect to some of the concepts in SRH. significant barrier, with the majority of learners not being
able to access facilities even if the CSE teachers at school did
refer them.

30

© UNESCO

The study also established that some health service In addition, the study sought to identify the potential
providers' attitudes were not encouraging to learners when challenges school leaders, teachers, and teacher educators
they did want to access SRH services, with some expressing faced in providing PSS to fellow learners and teachers. The
that the behaviours of such providers and the attitudes study also put forward recommendations for resilience
they projected towards learners were judgmental and development, infection control, and provision of PSS.
undesirable.
The study showed that the COVID-19 pandemic had several
“Ah! Like in my community, we get help from the negative psychological impacts, with teachers experiencing
nearby clinic/hospital, but the main problem is depression (31%), anxiety (24.6%), and stress (20.8%). Factors
the way the nurses react towards us, teenagers. attributed to the increase in depression, anxiety, and stress
Instead of giving us the help we need, they give us included increased reports on COVID-related deaths,
a negative attitude.” restricted movements, and a rise in identified positive cases.
Nevertheless, despite these negative impacts, teachers and
- High school girl participant, Eswatini teacher educators reported some positive impacts of the
pandemic too, including the development of resilience,
Assessment of COVID-19 psychosocial impact increased sense of community, improved communication
on and support needs of learners, teachers, skills, increased information and communication technology
and teacher educators (ICT) skills for teaching and learning, and the introduction of
blended learning in most education systems.
In partnership with the UNESCO International Institute
for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA), a study24 on the The key PSS needs cited by both learners and teachers were
psychosocial impact on and support needs of learners, the provision of counselling and mental services, provision
teachers, and teacher educators was undertaken. of capacity-development seminars for teachers and teacher
educators to address the challenges faced by learners, and
24 Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, DRC, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, the engagement of parents in the provision of PSS.
Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa,
South Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

31

© UNESCO “Teachers need to understand the learners based
on their situation. Some learners have lost their
focus and others are desperate so teachers should
understand and help them to bring them back to
where they were before the pandemic.”

- Focus group discussion

Recommendations from the study include setting up
well-equipped counselling units in schools, conducting
counselling sessions and workshops for both learners and
teachers, adjusting the curriculum to support the delivery of
lessons via digital technology, introducing diverse learning
platforms, and providing PPE and vaccination.

Legal framework and education policies
relating to sexuality education

To fully play their role, sexuality education programmes
must be supported by coherent laws and policies that
protect SRHR. For this reason, the series of studies in 11 WCA
countries25 aimed to guide the strengthening of national
legal and policy frameworks in order to create enabling
environments for the development and implementation of
quality CSE.

The SERAT, which was updated in 2020, was used to analyse
national legal and policy frameworks and their legal and
political contexts mainly through a document review for
each country. A total of 35 indicators in the SERAT were
examined to review supportive laws (such as protection
of people living with HIV), prohibitive laws (such as age of
consent to access health services), and education policies
and strategies in relation to pregnancy, HIV, gender equality,
and GBV, and the delivery of CSE.

Over 100 relevant national laws and policies were identified
and analysed, based on a strictly factual and comparative
approach, and by the end of 2021, the studies were validated
in five countries, namely Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC,
Nigeria, and Togo. These studies make a clear case for
renewed efforts by ministries of health and education to
work together to address the challenges that young people
face. While the situation varies considerably from one
country to another, strengthening national legal and policy
frameworks will help ensure a more supportive environment
for learner student development and health through
education across the board.

25 Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria,
Senegal, and Togo.

32

01 Jan 2020 - 31 Dec 2020 01 Jan 2021 - 31 Dec 2021

March 2021 May 2021 July 2021 September 2021 November 2021 January 2022

01 Jan 2021 - 31 Dec 2021 Users New users

12.1% 771.30% 768.06%

5,010 vs 575 5,000 vs 576

Sessions Page views

87.9% 483.09% 181.16%
6,484 vs 1,112 15,475 vs 5,504

New visitor Returning visitor

CSE Regional Learning Platform Additional development of the AnImRS tool

The CSE RLP, which seeks to connect a broad spectrum The AnImRS tool to analyse the education sector response to
of stakeholders (including, among others, policy-makers, SRGBV was completed in 2021 through the addition of four
curriculum developers, pre-and in-service teachers, new components focusing on: the learning environment,
health workers, religious and traditional leaders, parents/ including water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), safety,
guardians, and other community members) represents a and inclusion; links with services, including reporting
unique opportunity for countries to draw on each other's mechanisms, referral, counselling, and support; partnerships,
experiences, knowledge, and resources, and exchange including inter-sector collaboration and, community
information on emerging practices and perspectives in mobilisation; and monitoring, evaluation, and research. The
delivering good quality CSE. tool already included four components (curriculum content;
teacher training; rules and regulations; and policies and
In 2021, the platform continued to evolve into a one-stop- strategies) – and is now complete.
shop for all CSE-related content, and was further developed
to make it more user-friendly. It was also expanded to AnImRS is comprised of a list of features that education
accommodate the CSE online course and additional sector responses to SRGBV could include in order to be fully
resources from ESA and WCA, including CSE frameworks, CSE comprehensive and effective, based on evidence and good
curricula, learners’ books, teachers’ guides, COVID-19 related practice. It converts the data using a colour coding system,
guidelines, booklets, and videos, SRGBV prevention and as in the SERAT, and represents the results in charts that are
management resources, and research and evaluation reports. easy to share and read by different stakeholders. As such,
The substantial increase in recorded users from a wide range the tool can be used to spur on participatory identification
of countries26 is a testament to the impact of these changes, of priorities and joint decision-making in response to SRGBV.
having increased by 771% from 575 in 2020 to 5,010 in 2021. The new version of the tool has been tested in Burkina Faso
and Niger, showing, for instance, that the two countries had
26 The top 10 countries from which the platform was accessed in 2021 are the different strengths and could benefit from learning with each
Philippines, Malawi, Zimbabwe, United States of America, Zambia, Russia, South other.
Africa, Namibia, France, and Kenya.

33

Financial analysis

As of December 2021, total pledged resources for Total O3 Programme funding (including O3 )PLUS
the O3 Programme stood at over USD 55 million
through to 2023. In addition, over USD 11 million
has been mobilized for the newly created O3 PLUS
project, which will run through to 2025. Together,
this brings overarching O3 Programme funding
to over USD 67 million over eight years, between
2018 and 2025.

O3 Programme funding source* Amount Packard foundation Sida O3 - Zambia
Sida – O3 Regional $28,760,605 Irish Aid regional programme Sida O3 - Regional
Sida – O3 Zambia $8,296,324 Norad Malawi programme UNAIDS
Multi-donor account (France, Norad, Sida) $7,415,270 Multi-donor account (France, Norad, Sida) SDC
UNAIDS $5,501,101
Norad – O3 Malawi $3,392,686 60 000 000
Irish Aid – O3 Regional $2,141,078
Packard Foundation $500,000 50 000 000
Subtotal $55,712,813
O3 PLUS project funding sources** Amount 40 000 000
SDC $7,859,021
Sida – O3 Regional $2,640,487 30 000 000
Multi-donor account (France, Norad, Sida) $543,535
UNAIDS $461,682 20 000 000
Subtotal $11,504,726
10 000 000
* exact amounts may vary depending on exchange rate at time of 2020 2021 2022
transfer 0 Actual Expenditure
2018 2019
** not including UNESCO global, regional, and regular programme staff
contributions, programme support costs, and other UNESCO in-kind Target Expenditure

contributions

As of December 2021, UNESCO had assigned over USD 30 Despite this progress, it should be underscored that 2021
million for the O3 Programme, not including funds assigned remained a difficult context for implementation. In-person
for the new O3 PLUS project. This represents a steady increase meetings were still for the most part impossible and many
in expenditure since 2018, and an increase of over USD 11 activities that had been budgeted as large-scale live events
million in the past year alone. had to be held virtually.

Acceleration efforts to make up for slower implementation This was the case for the 2020 annual review meeting, as well
due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been fruitful. For as for the renewal of the ESA Commitment beyond 2030. The
example, efforts to accelerate pre- and in-service teacher latter had been planned as a side event at the 2021 ICASA
training saw increased numbers of teachers reached as conference, which was ultimately moved online. Moreover, it
compared to the previous year. As a result, many more was decided to hold the WCA Commitment meeting in 2022
learners were reached, including through digital means. rather than 2021, displacing these costs by a year. As a result,
These and other acceleration efforts will continue in 2022. despite significant acceleration in activities and reach of the
Notably, the O3 Programme will welcome Congo (Brazzaville) Programme, financial expenditure did not fully regain lost
and Gabon and as focus countries. ground. Nonetheless, the momentum that was created in
2021 will only amplify in the year to come.
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35 shutterstock.com

Looking ahead: Key priorities for 2022

*KEY: Activities in blue are mainly for O3 PLUS

01Objective Secure and sustain strong political commitment
and support for AYP’s access to CSE and sexual and
reproductive health (SRH) services across SSA

1. Finalize and implement a comprehensive strategy to respond to and mitigate opposition to CSE
at regional and country levels.

2. Support development and engagement around a Continental Strategy on Education for Health
and Well-being at the AU level.

3. Support the process towards the proclamation of the West and Central Africa Commitment for
Educated, Healthy and Thriving Adolescents and Young People (WCA Commitment). 

4. Implement the Education Saves Lives campaign to support the WCA Commitment and create an
enabling environment for CSE as part of the comprehensive strategy. 

5. Support development of the ESA and WCA Commitment Regional Accountability Framework
and monitoring systems.

6. Support development and implementation of national ESA and WCA Commitment plans, and
strengthen the country and regional coordination mechanisms.

7. Further promote the Hello Ado application among AYP and disseminate Hello Ado content on
social media to reach a larger audience. 

02Objective Support the delivery of accurate, rights-based, and
good quality CSE programmes that provide knowledge,
36 values, and skills essential for safer behaviours, reduced
adolescent pregnancy, and gender equality

1. Scale up online in-service teacher training on CSE.
2. Conduct a study on distance teacher training solutions in eight WCA countries to strengthen

programmes with solutions that fit into existing platforms and are adapted to available
infrastructures (electricity and internet). 
3. Support ESA countries to use the Coaching and Mentoring Guidelines to support trained CSE
teachers.
4. Support teachers to effectively deliver CSE curricula in schools, ensuring effective lesson plan/
teaching scheme development and timetable management.
5. Update and expand teacher orientation for the delivery of CSE in WCA through learner-centred
active teaching and learning approaches.
6. Support institutionalization of CSE in HTEIs in ESA.
7. Support youth leadership in developing radio shows, podcasts, and other information streams to
deliver CSE messages and promote SRHR services in HTEIs in ESA. 

03Objective Objective 3: Ensure that schools and community
environments are safer, healthier, and inclusive for all
young people

1. Support the development or implementation of policies and guidelines that prevent or respond
to SRGBV, including through regional capacity-building and sharing of good practice among
countries.

2. Scale up implementation of the CwR programme. 
3. Strengthen referral mechanisms at the school level to support victims of SRGBV. 
4. Incorporate the response to SRGBV and EUP in teacher orientation for the delivery of CSE in WCA

through learner-centred active teaching and learning approaches.
5. Support the development of education sector policies on retention of pregnant girls and re-

entry of young mothers. 
6. Support the development and or revision of policies, rules, and guidelines related to GBV in

schools and HTEIs in ESA.

04Objective Objective 4: Strengthen the evidence base on CSE and
safer school environments

1. Finalize the eight-country study on the impact of COVID-19 on CSE and SRH in ESA.
2. Develop policy briefs utilizing evidence from research implemented through the O3 Programme.
3. Implement an endline evaluation of the O3 Programme. 
4. Integrate the CSE RLP into the website for the O3 and O3 PLUS flagship programmes, and further

promote the platform to increase its use.
5. Conduct a capacity-development training for UNESCO regional and national O3 Programme staff

in SSA on CSE, disability, human rights, gender, and other emerging issues.
6. Build the capacity of EMIS officers to integrate and analyse CSE-related indicators, including

indicators available for population-based survey data.
7. Develop mobile applications on CSE and SRHR for students in HTEIs in ESA.
8. Support research initiatives to deepen evidence on CSE, SRH, and GBV in order to strengthen and

scale up existing initiatives in HTEIs in ESA. 

© UNESCO

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Our Rights, Our © UNESCO
Lives, Our Future
PLUS (O3 )PLUS

The Our Rights, Our Lives Our Future (O3 )PLUS
project builds on the current O3 Programme efforts
to improve SRH, gender, and education outcomes
for AYP, and focuses on young people in higher
and tertiary education institutions (HTEIs) in
recognition that these institutions cater for a large
number of sexually active young people who often
lack adequate SRH information and are therefore
at higher risk of EUP, HIV and other STIs, and other
poor SRH outcomes. The project is currently being
implemented in 33 HTEIs in eight countries27 and
is delivered through four complementary pillars or
work streams, as follows:

Institutional strengthening for sustainability: Supporting
the institutionalization of CSE, SRHR services, and prevention
of/response to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)
across the higher and tertiary education sector.

Student health and well-being: Building and
strengthening the capacity of campus health facilities to offer
a trusted standard package of youth-friendly health services
for students, along with referral mechanisms to specialist care
and support services as needed.

Safe and inclusive campus environments: Supporting the
development, implementation, and effective enforcement of
laws and policies to protect students from SGBV, which they
may encounter in and around campus environments.

Evidence-building and knowledge-sharing platform:
Commissioning epidemiologic and operations research
studies to generate a body of knowledge for a deeper
understanding of the HIV/STI and GBV burden in colleges
and the overall context for SRHR-related activity and service
utilization, including insights on student ‘demand’, HTEI-
based ‘supply’, and the broader campus environment. The
project aims to reach 252,742 students from 2021 to 2025, as
well as 2,130 healthcare providers and 5,300 peer counsellors
trough training, while 152,000 students will be tested for HIV
and 168,000 will be linked to appropriate SRHR services.

27 Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

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39 © UshNuEtSteCrOstock.com © UNESCO
© UNESCO

Key achievements

Baseline studies The setting up of national and institutional steering
committees for the project was top priority in Namibia and
A key milestone in 2021 was the commissioning of baseline Tanzania, and these will manage the overall implementation
studies and health facility assessments (HFAs) in some of the project and monitor progress, while identifying areas
of the O3 PLUS project countries to provide an information that require strengthening to ensure the smooth flow of
base against which to monitor and assess progress during the project. In addition, in 2021, the national committee in
implementation and after completion. The baseline studies Tanzania was instrumental in developing a Gender Desk
focus on the SRH, HIV, and GBV indicators as per the project’s Register Book, which is a key step towards operationalization
results framework, and are instrumental in setting realistic of policy guidelines on establishing gender desks in HTEIs in
targets for the project. So far, Zambia and Zimbabwe have Tanzania.
successfully completed a baseline study across the 24
HTEIs that are participating in the project. The baseline was Project launches
conducted in parallel with two HFAs, for which the objectives
were to review the status of the health facilities in the 12 To kick start the O3 PLUS project, countries organized high-
institutions per country and to assess their readiness and level launch events which were attended by a number of
identify needs for effective programme implementation. In stakeholders, including ministers, permanent secretaries, vice
Kenya and Tanzania, the baseline studies and HFA reports are chancellors, lecturers, young people, and representatives
currently being finalized. In Tanzania, although the results are of CSOs and other development partners. The launches
yet to be endorsed by the project’s steering committee and were televised and live streamed to reach a wider audience
TWG, they have already been instrumental in informing key as well as raise awareness of the project and its objectives
activities to be implemented in the institutions and setting among the general public. Young people, who are the target
targets for the project. Plans to conduct the same studies in beneficiaries of the project, were also given an opportunity
Namibia, South Africa, and Uganda are at an advanced level, to highlight the SRH challenges faced in HTEIs and how they
with results expected in the second quarter of 2022. anticipated the project would address these challenges.
Speaking at the launch for Zambia and Zimbabwe, which
Creating momentum and local was held on 28 October 2021 in Harare, Zimbabwe, in
ownership collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation (SDC), the Minister of Public Service, Labour
Significant strides have been taken to garner support and Social Welfare in Zimbabwe, who was Acting Minister
for the O3 PLUS project in the different countries through of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science, Innovation and
national inception meetings in Zambia and Zimbabwe to Technology Development, Prof. Paul Mavima thanked
introduce the project to stakeholders and secure their buy-in, UNESCO and its partners for coming up with a programme
consultations with relevant line ministries and government that addresses the key challenges faced by young people in
representatives in Uganda, and lastly by setting up national institutions of higher learning. He noted that:
and institutional steering committees for the project in
Namibia and Tanzania. These engagements were aimed “Drug abuse and deteriorating sexual and
at creating government and institutional ownership of reproductive health are key challenges that the
the project and define the course of partnerships over the nation must guard against. This project will thus
project cycle. enable students to reach their full educational
potential and contribute more effectively to the
The national inception meetings in Zambia and Zimbabwe development of their countries as graduates,
were attended by vice principals, deans of students, professionals, and young leaders.”
health coordinators, and students, with the latter actively
participating in the meetings, sharing their perspectives - Honourable Minister Prof. Paul Mavima
on proposed interventions to address the issues emerging
from the baseline studies, and emphasizing the need to use
multiple digital platforms to disseminate CSE content and on
SRH services.

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In Kenya, the project was launched on 30 September 2021 during a high-level forum which was televised, reaching © UNESCO
approximately 700,000 people. In the remaining countries, the project will be launched in 2022.
Student representatives at the O3 PLUS project inception meeting in Zimbabwe © UNESCO

Youth engagements

Recognizing the importance of ensuring that young people in HTEIs receive accurate information on CSE and SRH issues,
UNESCO took advantage of important events such as the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence to reach young
people with accurate information on CSE and SRH. In Tanzania, for example, over 500 students were reached through campus-
based anti-GBV campaigns during this event, while in Kenya, 36 students from the 11 institutions who were identified as
champions for the project managed to reach 20,769 other students with messages on a number of SRH and CSE issues.

41

42 © stock.adobe.com

Country reports

43

© stock.adobe.com Botswana

Programme tier: Focus Country

44

The status of CSE Key achievements per objective

• CSE terminology: LSE, which encapsulates CSE concepts, Objective 1: Secure and sustain strong political
is taught in Botswana. commitment and support for adolescents and
young people’s access to CSE and SRH services
• Policy environment: The policies and frameworks which across SSA
seek to advance CSE and SRH services for AYP in the
country are the Botswana National life Skills Framework, • In this reporting year, a number of ESA Commitment
Revised National Policy on Education, National Strategic processes were undertaken, ultimately culminating in
Framework (NSF ll) for HIV and AIDS, and the School the endorsement of its extension on 6 December 2021,
Health Policy. including:
- A stakeholder consultative meeting in October
• Positioning of CSE in curriculum: CSE forms part of with all critical stakeholders, consisting of 44
the life skills-based Guidance and Counselling (G&C) representatives from key ministries and CSOs, as well
programme, which is provided in all public schools across AYP themselves. The meeting mainly discussed the
all levels and has been adopted by some private schools performance of Botswana on the ESA Commitment,
as well. CSE is currently not examinable, but curriculum especially around coordination, and its extension to
developers are working on integrating it into some 2030, whereby it was agreed that the TWG should
examinable subjects. reach out to stakeholders to inform them about the
extension and gather ideas for focus areas going
• Delivery models: In primary school, CSE is integrated forward.
into Cultural Studies and Religious and Moral Education. - A consultative meeting with 35 religious leaders in
In secondary school, it is integrated into Integrated November 2021 in order to gather their contributions
Science, Moral Education, Religious Education, and towards the new ESA Commitment. The religious
Biology. Topics are either taught “as is’’ or infused during leaders noted that UNESCO needs to reach out to
teaching. all religious groups in the country, not just Christian
ones.
• Quality of CSE delivered: During the 10-country review - A consultative meeting with six journalists, also in
of the CSE curriculum in the ESA region, a number of November, to orient them on the new Commitment
gaps were identified within the G&C programme in and the role they could play in the process going
Botswana. As such, a curriculum review is underway, forward. Since these journalists had already benefited
in addition to the Ministry of Basic Education currently from UNESCO training on EUP, they immediately
adapting the revised CSE regional curriculum to address pledged to continue their collaboration with UNESCO
the gaps. on the ESA Commitment.
- A virtual consultative meeting with the permanent
• Key materials developed: Living: Skills for Life secretaries from the ministries of basic education,
(Botswana’s Window of Hope material for primary and youth, gender, and health to review the new
secondary schools), Living: Skills for Life usage guidelines, Commitment in December. All the permanent
and the LSE curriculum (development ongoing). secretaries agreed that the Commitment was an
avenue for addressing their core mandates with
respect to AYP, and pledged to facilitate its buy-in and
endorsement within their respective ministries.

• Another highlight was the final implementation of
the 'Our Talks' PCC pilot project, in collaboration with
Stepping Stones International and with the involvement
of a range of stakeholders (including community leaders,
school heads and teachers, and parents, among others)
to ensure buy-in and continuous support throughout
the project. The Ministry of Basic Education is also in the
process of developing its own PCC manual, supported by
UNESCO, which will complement the ‘Our Talks’ manual
and will be pilot tested from 2022.

45

Objective 2: Support the delivery of Objective 3: Ensure that schools and
accurate, rights-based, and good quality CSE community environments are safer, healthier,
programmes that provide knowledge, values, and inclusive for all young people
and skills essential for safer behaviours,
reduced adolescent pregnancy, and gender • UNESCO has been supporting the review of the
equality national School Health Policy since 2020, resulting in
an implementation plan for the School Health Policy as
• Under this objective, 33 teacher, nursing, and technical well as the actual policy being reviewed and produced.
and vocational education and training (TVET) college Both documents are now awaiting final inputs from
lecturers as well as in-service teachers and CSO officers the permanent secretaries of the three participating
were trained through the CSE online training course in ministries, following which they will be put forward for
June 2021. The colleges will now work with UNESCO and adoption and rollout.
the Ministry of Tertiary Education to integrate CSE into
the curriculum. • Alongside this process, UNESCO, in partnership with the
WHO, are supporting the ministries of basic education,
• In addition, two CSE training workshops (one online and health, and local government to pilot test the Health
the other in-person) were held. A total of 31 Participants Promoting School programme in three selected
enrolled. That is , (27) in-service G&C teachers from schools, in line with the Global Health Promoting
the North-West and North-East regions, 4 principal School indicators and standards, of which Botswana
education officers from the North-West sub-region and was selected as an early adopter country along with five
the Kweneng region were trained through the CSE online other countries globally. An orientation workshop was
training course in October. A further 42 participants went convened for the three pilot schools in December 2021
through In - Person Training. (1) Teacher educator, (26) in order to outline what the project entails and what they
in-service teachers, and (15) college lecturers participated will be expected to do as the selected schools.
in an in-person training course in November. Linked to
the CSE tertiary curriculum integration, the UNESCO Objective 4: Strengthen the evidence base on
national programme officer (NPO) made a presentation CSE and safer school environments
to the principals of TVET colleges on why this is necessary
in December, following which an agreement was put in • To address the gaps in the EMIS, particularly with regard
place for UNESCO to work with the Ministry of Tertiary to reporting on the HIV education sector indicators,
Education’s deputy director for curriculum development to UNESCO conducted a capacity-building training for 26
develop a road map of processes that will be undertaken EMIS officers in November 2021. The officers were trained
for the integration of CSE into the teacher training, nursing, on different data analysis, interpretation, and reporting
and TVET curricula. packages. UNESCO will also be linking the Botswana EMIS
with the Zambia EMIS for benchmarking purposes.

46

Key results on indicators

Indicator Results (disaggregated as relevant e.g. sex, school level etc) Comment(s) on results

Prog. Target 2018 2019 2020 2021 Cumulative total
2018-22 2018-2021

Objective 1: Secure and sustain strong political commitment and support for adolescents and young people’s access to CSE and SRH services across SSA

1. Number of PTAs 260 350 190 91 183 814 More PTA sessions were
oriented on skills- conducted than the
based HIV and SE previous year due to the
programmes that are relaxing of COVID-19
offered in schools restrictions.

2. Number of young 141,502 3,500 7,360 13,600 23,425 47,885 These are the estimated
people in and out of number of young people
school reached with reached, in and out of
CSE through multiple school. Data is mainly
media platforms generated from social
media platforms managed
by National AIDS and Health
Promotion Agency (NAHPA)

Objective 2: Support the delivery of accurate, rights-based, and good quality CSE programmes that provide knowledge, values, and skills essential for safer
behaviours, reduced adolescent pregnancy, and gender equality

1. Number and 821 Public primary Public primary All public schools in
percentage of primary schools: 764 schools: 764 Botswana provide CSE/
and secondary schools life-Skills based HIV and
that provided life skills- Public Public secondary sexuality education, as do
based HIV and SE secondary schools: 241 some (but not all) private
schools: 240 schools.

2. Number and 423,396 50,6118 50,3756 50,8411 510,833 460,320 Learners reached with CSE
percentage of learners 100% 100% 100% 100% by UNESCO-trained G&C
reached by life skills- teachers: 1,035
based HIV and SE

3. Number of pre-service 705 255 191 446 Data for 2018 and 2019 not
teachers trained in CSE F: 176 F: 131 F: 307 captured.
M: 79 M: 60 M: 139

4. Number of in-service 6,100 692 280 0 63 1,035 After COVID-19 restrictions
teachers trained in (in-person) (in-person) Online: 37 were lifted, in-person
CSE (disaggregated by F: 405 F: 183 In-person: 26 training was possible again.
in-person and online M: 287 M: 97
training)

Objective 3: Ensure that schools and community environments are safer, healthier, and inclusive for all young people

1. Percentage of primary - Public primary The Ministry of Basic
and secondary schools schools: 764 Education has guidelines for
that have rules and Public secondary staff and students, but the
guidelines for staff and schools: 241 implementation of these,
students related to Total public schools: as well as the content and
physical safety, stigma 1,005 (100%) quality of the guidelines,
and discrimination, and Private primary need to be improved.
sexual harassment and schools: 81
abuse Private secondary
schools:54
Total private
schools:135 (60%)

2. Number of community 142,980 501 559 1,522 2,005 4,587 These are community
members reached with F: 441 F: 447 F: 1,172 F: 1,497 F: 3,557 members reached through
efforts to keep girls in M: 60 M: 82 M: 380 M: 508 M: 1,030 PCC community dialogues
school and the PCC pilot project.

Objective 4: Strengthen the evidence base on CSE and safer school environments

1. Number of HIV- - Since 2015, 11 have been
sensitive indicators integrated.
integrated into EMIS
systems

2. Number of research - 1 Review of the Botswana
pieces commissioned School Health Policy.

47

© UNESCO Lessons learned and emerging
issues likely to impact on delivery
of CSE

While some planned activities were able to be adapted in
order to proceed during the COVID-19 lockdown period,
many were not. This demonstrated that Botswana lacks
the infrastructure that could help it withstand crises like
the pandemic, such as internet connectivity in schools that
could have otherwise enabled the implementation of some
activities.In addition, for teachers to deliver CSE content
in classes, they need support from school management.
If school management does not understand the value of
some content, they may resist its delivery – which has been
the case in some schools in Botswana. This also makes it
difficult to monitor and evaluate CSE implementation on the
ground. To address this challenge, UNESCO and the Ministry
of Basic Education will begin targeting school and regional
educational management to provide orientation on CSE.

Success story: ESA Commitment
country adoption process

One of the main reasons the ESA Commitment country
adoption process was successful in the first place was
because of the strategic planning by UNESCO to involve
critical partners, including religious leaders and AYP
themselves. However, by targeting the permanent secretaries
of the four relevant ministries in Botswana has strengthened
this process even further, ensuring the country endorsed
the Commitment’s extension. The robust ground work
undertaken by the TWG, led by UNESCO and other UN
agencies made this engagement possible, while convincing
the Ministry of Basic Education to become the convenor and
lead body of the Commitment helped a great deal as well.
Finally, the collaboration between the different UN partners,
notably UNESCO, UNFPA, and UNAIDS, was also a key factor,
demonstrating to government the importance of pulling
together in one direction for a common cause. All these
processes and planning laid the foundation for a seamless
endorsement of the Commitment’s extension by Botswana,
and an initial roadmap for its implementation has already
been developed.

Conclusions and recommendations

This reporting year presented many challenges owing to
the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected implementation of
many projects, as many required face-to-face interventions.
This highlights the critical importance of preparedness for
any eventuality in order to mitigate the negative impact
future crises may have on both education and health
outcomes.

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