I n t e r n a l a n d e x t e r n a l

I n t e r n a l a n d e x t e r n a l
d i m e n s i o n s
For mainstreaming to be effective, it needs to address two closely interlinked and complementary dimensions
of mainstreaming: internal and external. The table below highlights what is meant by these two dimensions and
provides specifi c examples for the education sector.
Defi nition Examples of education sector activities
Internal
mainstreaming
Involves recognising and
pre-empting, reversing or
mitigating the likely impacts
of HIV and AIDS on the
organization as a whole.
Conducting internal advocacy to ensure that there
is more money for HIV prevention within the overall
education budget.
Supporting peer education activities among educators.
Ensuring condom distribution at teacher training
institutions.
Providing affordable and accessible voluntary
testing and counselling services for HIV to education
employees and their families.
Revising health and workplace policies and services to
ensure access to STI testing and antiretroviral therapy
(ART).
External
mainstreaming
Involves recognising and
pre-empting, reversing or
mitigating the likely impacts
of HIV and AIDS on the
clients of the sector and the
communities with which it
works.
Providing scholarships or bursaries for orphans and
vulnerable children.
Adopting legislation to ensure children (including girls)
stay in school.
Involving religious leaders and other prominent
community members in discussions around HIV
prevention.
Abolishing school fees so that barriers to accessing
education are reduced.
Introducing school feeding programmes.
Introducing measures that make school hours and
curricula more fl exible to address the needs of working
children.
In settings where HIV is more prevalent, sectors
will often start with the internal domain in order to
reduce the vulnerability of the workforce. In Kenya,
for example, a recent sentinel survey of a major
transport corridor in the north of the country (Kenya
National AIDS Council, 2005) revealed that educators
were among the major client groups of sex workers
located along this corridor (after truck drivers and
police staff). The study also highlighted that condom
use among the clients was variable, indicating that in
some geographical areas educators are particularly at
risk.16 Kenya is not unique in this respect. Educators
may be vulnerable due to frequent travel, isolation
and working conditions that oblige them to leave their
families. In order to address the internal domain, it is
essential that education decision-makers take action
to review placement policies in light of such realities.
In settings where HIV prevalence is lower, it is
frequently through the integration of HIV- and AIDSrelated
content in the curriculum that sectors make a
start with mainstreaming HIV and AIDS. There may
be little or no focus in such settings on protecting
the workforce because the numbers of educators
and other employees who are currently, or could
potentially become, affected or infected are very
small. However, a comprehensive response – tailored
to the local context – is needed in all settings and
should therefore include both the internal and external
dimensions described above.