Partnerships to Develop Consensus and Share Knowledge
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especially in countries where the rate of disbursement of CF funds is poor. This restructuring will lead to faster implementation for results, with a focus on quicker expenditure related to school health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS. FTI and the education sector response to HIV/AIDS. On two occasions, the UNAIDS IATT on Education and the FTI Secretariat have assessed the HIV/AIDS responsiveness of education sector plans already endorsed by the EFA-FTI Partnership. The first study, completed in October 2004, found that the initial 12 endorsed plans did not adequately address HIV/AIDS, with 5 of the 12 country plans failing to mention HIV/AIDS at all (Clarke and Bundy 2004). As a result of the assessment, recommendations were made to strengthen FTI processes and help countries take school health, nutrition, and HIV/AIDS components into consideration when first elaborating education sector plans , or when the plans are subsequently revised, for example, when applying for a second phase of Catalytic funding. A second assessment was conducted in 2006 (Clarke and Bundy 2008). It reviewed eight country plans that had been endorsed by FTI following implementation of recommendations from the 2004 review. These country plans paid greater attention to HIV/AIDS and addressed more school health issues than was the case with the plans reviewed by the first assessment. However, considerable variation remained in the quality and depth of plan contents and appraisal processes. These shortfalls could have significant consequences: two of the eight countries assessed were experiencing generalized HIV/AIDS epidemics, but included no HIV/AIDS components in their education sector plans. A World Bank study has found that at least two-thirds of the countries in Eastern and Western Africa and three in Central Africa exempt orphans and vulnerable children from paying school fees, although implementation of this policy is uneven. Only in some countries did ministries of education keep data on orphans and vulnerable children. Kenya and Malawi have begun to put in place systematic mechanisms that coordinate educational support to orphans and vulnerable children. In Tanzania, consultations between the government, UNICEF, and other stakeholders resulted in the finalization in September 2006 of a fully costed Action Plan (2006–10) to mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS on the most vulnerable children and reduce their vulnerability (Bundy et al. 2010). The development of these programs was funded by EPDF funds in order to help countries in Sub-Saharan Africa accelerate their education sector responses to HIV/AIDS.