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The executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV & AIDS (UNAIDS), Winnie Byanyima, has urged the world to keep girls in school to protect them against HIV.

She made the call on Wednesday, two days after addressing the opening session of the biennial International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The conference started on December 4 and will end on December 9. 

Byanyima addressed the conference alongside Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his Mozambican counterpart, Filipe Jacinto Nyusi.

“School is the space where a girl is protected up to the time she is an adult. We have to work on the public policies to equalize for girls and women," said Byanyima

"School is the best protection from HIV and sexual violence. School is the space where a girl is protected up to the time she is an adult. Target sexual violence, keep the girls in school,” she said on X, formerly Twitter.

UNAIDS says growing evidence shows that getting and keeping young people in school, particularly girls, dramatically lowers their vulnerability to HIV.  

“When young people stay in school through the secondary level, education’s protective effect against HIV is even more pronounced. This is especially true for girls who, with each additional year of education, gain greater independence, are better equipped to make decisions affecting their sexual lives, and have higher income earning potential – all of which help them stay safe from HIV,” UNAIDS states on its website.

Ugandan Byanyima said ICASA is a moment for them to review progress and consider future directions and sustainability of the HIV response.  

“There are around 5,000 of us who have gathered here in Harare or online for this meeting, committing to continuing our struggle to end AIDS. We are a movement. That is our power,” she said while addressing the conference on Tuesday. 

“The vanguard of our movement are people living with HIV. They are the activists who work every day on the ground. We are health workers, we are scientists, philanthropists, governments—all fighting together to end AIDS."

The UNAIDS boss added that ICASA is being held in Zimbabwe because the southern African country is one of the countries making the fastest progress in the world.

On June 13, 2023, UNAIDS released a report highlighting that ending AIDS is a political and financial choice and that the countries and leaders who are already following the path are achieving extraordinary results.

It said Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have already achieved the “95-95-95” targets.

That means 95% of the people who are living with HIV know their HIV status, 95% of the people who know that they are living with HIV are on lifesaving antiretroviral treatment, and 95% of people who are on the treatment are virally suppressed.

A further 16 other countries, eight of them in sub-Saharan Africa — the region which accounts for 65% of all people living with HIV — are also close to doing so, the report, titled ‘The Path that Ends AIDS’ said. 

In Uganda, out of the around 1.4 million people living with HIV, 860, 000 are women and 80, 000 are children.