The paper highlights that the education of children, and youth merits the highest priority in a world afflicted by HIV/AIDS, specifically because a good basic education ranks among the most effective - and cost-effective - means of HIV prevention. It also merits priority because the very education system that supplies a nation's future, is being greatly threatened by the epidemic, particularly in areas of high, or rising HIV prevalence. The paper confronts the destructive power of the epidemic, with the need to accelerate efforts towards achieving "education for all" goals, aiming at prioritizing education, because education is a major engine of economic, and social development, and, because education is a proven means to prevent HIV/AIDS. It aims at setting promising directions for such responsiveness, as revealed by a review of country experience to date: based on strategic planning in pursuit of educational goals, school-based prevention programs, and health education, focused on resources for effective school health (in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the Bank, should expand skills-based for youth peer education, and support for orphans. The broad principles of Bank support for education, underline the need to asses the impact of the epidemic vs. educational systems, to mobilize resources, reinforced by government commitments for sharing knowledge, and building capacity, within strategic partnerships.
