Country News

On May 15, President Thomas Boni Yayi promulgated a law on HIV/AIDS which was enacted last year by the Benin National Assembly. The newly adopted Law 2005-31 on prevention, care and control of HIV/AIDS will significantly address stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV/AIDS. The new law guarantees that any person suffering from a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) or living with HIV shall fully enjoy all of his/her civil, political and social rights without discrimination. The law pledges special care to persons who declare that they are affected by HIV/AIDS and ensures that they benefit from psychological support, counseling and other services and receive special medical care. The law also provides for penal sanctions of imprisonment or fines for any person who does not comply with the medical ethics defined by the law. Prison terms range from 1 to 3 years and fines range from CFA Francs 200,000 ($ 365) to CFA Francs 1,000,000 ($ 1,800). Persons living with HIV are also liable to penal sanctions if they willfully and knowingly engage in unprotected sexual relations with male or female partners who are not informed of their serological status. The law came about largely through the work of the Network of Parliamentarians in Benin for Population and Development along with sustained advocacy involving other partners from civil society and donors, including USAID.

After almost being closed for 17 years, Benin has moved forward to reopen its teacher training colleges. At a ceremony in April, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education officially opened three teachers training colleges in Djougou located in north of Benin, in Abomey located in the central part of Benin and in Porto-Novo in southern part of Benin. During the ceremony former Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Ms. Rafiatou Karimou stressed the importance of teacher training in delivering quality education. She was a strong proponent of reopening of the teacher training colleges. The ceremony marked the end of a long and difficult process that required overcoming major constraints and obstacles. The Minister expressed her appreciation to all the donors, in particular USAID, for their support. USAID has been a lead donor in education since 1996 and has contributed US$ 97,988,000 toward funding of education activities during this time. In her speech, Ms. Margaret Witherspoon, Mission Controller who represented the Mission Director at the ceremony, reiterated the importance of teacher training in the quality of an education system and indicated that the reopening of the colleges should also be an opportunity to promote girls' education through the training of women teachers to serve as model in areas with little girls' enrollment.

On April 7, 2006, USAID Benin awarded a task Order to Creative Associates International (CAII) to assist the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. CAII will be working in partnership with African Consultants International (ACI) and Aguirre International to provide education assistance in three areas: (1) to strengthen teacher training in the newly opened teacher training colleges, (2) to assess students' learning which will be used to work with teachers to improve their teaching skills, and (3) to work with the ministry to develop and implement an action plan aimed at responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The task order will cover the period of April, 2006 - June 2007. CAII was the implementing contractor of USAID/Benin's EQUIPE project which ended earlier this year and supported Benin's education reform program.

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