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Education Plus

About
About
First announced by the UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, at the Nairobi Summit in November 2019 upon taking office, the Education Plus initiative, endorsed and co-led by the heads of UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women, was launched at the Generation Equality Forum in July 2021.

It harnesses the unique comparative advantages and capacities of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, a partnership of United Nations collaborating Cosponsors and the UNAIDS Secretariat, to bring on board governments, leading funding mechanisms, women’s and feminist organizations, young people and diverse civil society networks and communities around this shared goal.

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Approach

Fostering an enabling policy and legal environment that protects the rights of adolescent girls and young women for them to enjoy safe and fruitful learning experiences, and to thrive while paving their way to vibrant futures, is integral to Education Plus.

The initiative emphasizes the leadership and engagement of adolescent girls and young women living with HIV, not only to benefit from the initiative’s impact but also to bring their lived experiences to inform the initiative’s development and implementation.

The key components of the Education Plus approach include the essential elements of what every adolescent girl and young woman should be entitled to in transitioning to adulthood.

Freedom from gender-based & sexual violence
Freedom from gender-based & sexual violence
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School-to-work transitions, economic security & empowerment
School-to-work transitions, economic security & empowerment
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Fulfillment of sexual and reproductive health and rights
Fulfillment of sexual and reproductive health and rights
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Completion of quality secondary education
Completion of quality secondary education
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Universal access to comprehensive sexuality education
Universal access to comprehensive sexuality education
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The Education Plus initiative is aimed at stepping up investments in holistic, multisectoral approaches around these core elements of the empowerment of girls and women and gender equality.

Conveners

Education Plus was first announced by the UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, at the Nairobi Summit in November 2019.

The five-year initiative, endorsed and co-led by the heads of UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women, was launched at the Generation Equality Forum in July 2021. The co-leads of the initiative have mandates and proven records across the initiative’s areas of focus, including advancing women’s empowerment and gender equality, education, sexual and reproductive health and rights and ending gender-based violence.

UNAIDS Ed+

Our strategy

The Education Plus initiative will reignite commitment to girls’ education. It will work to shift the mindsets of decision-makers, from heads of state to ministers of finance, donors and other development cooperation partners and the United Nations system itself

The initiative operationalizes its strategy and programme of work by establishing six interrelated pillars, each with its own dedicated partners, plans and processes:

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High-level policy advocacy
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Strategic partnerships and outreach
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Young women’s leadership and engagement
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Think-tanks group
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Multimedia communication
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Data hub

A joint initiative

Grass-roots groups, including young female activists from diverse networks of young people and feminists, have led the way in pushing for action. Now, convened by five female leaders of United Nations agencies an exceptional network of African and global leaders from civil society, business, unions, faith groups and the media are joining forces with adolescent girls and young women to generate an unstoppable momentum for transformation.

A joint initiative