Tagged: US

  • The future of global development: The shape of U.S. education in the 2020s

    What are the systems, trends and ideas that are shaping education in the United States? What needs to be done to promote transformative education reform?

    In this episode of A Deeper Look podcast, I speak with education reformer Dr. Warren Simmons, currently Senior Policy Advisor at the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. We draw parallels between the challenges in education reform in the United States and in low-income countries, including how inadequate funding models can perpetuate a cycle of poverty and how successful programs can be difficult to scale and replicate. We also discuss the power of local voices and community organizing and the importance of making our education systems more culturally responsive. Dr. Simmons highlights the need for cross-sector partnerships in order to achieve lasting reform and discusses how schools and communities must work together to adapt to the future.

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  • A bold plan for ending HIV and AIDS in New York State

    Dr. Timothy MastroFor more than thirty years, health care providers, program implementers, policymakers and academic researchers have strived to meet a goal that once seemed impossible: a world without AIDS.

    The fourth decade has brought hope, based on extraordinary progress in learning how to combine HIV treatment and prevention. However, much work remains to be done, including in the United States where, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the groups most seriously affected are gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, and, in particular, young African-American men who have sex with men.

    On June 29, 2014, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York announced an initiative designed to achieve an AIDS-free generation in his state by 2020. Governor Cuomo’s three-pronged plan focuses on improved testing, preventing the spread of the virus and providing better treatment for those living with HIV.

    At FHI 360, we applaud Governor Cuomo’s bold plan to end the HIV epidemic in New York State. We currently have the scientifically proven prevention and treatment tools to stop HIV transmission. Now, we need to commit to using these tools for all populations in order to end the epidemic in New York, the United States and globally.

    We are encouraged to see Governor Cuomo take a brave stand against HIV and hope that others will join him. Together, we believe we can make a world without AIDS a reality.

  • Partner reduction to avoid HIV risk is the focus for a new publication

    Promoting Partner Reduction title page

    Having multiple sexual partners, particularly when relationships overlap in time, is a major driver of the HIV epidemic. Overlapping, or concurrent, relationships increase the number of people who are connected in a “sexual network,” and HIV spreads more quickly the larger the sexual network. Although young people report having multiple sexual partners, few HIV prevention programs for youth tackle this topic.

    FHI 360, on behalf of USAID’s Interagency Youth Working Group, recently helped address this gap with a new publication, Promoting Partner Reduction: Helping Young People Understand and Avoid HIV Risks from Multiple Partnerships. The late Dr. Doug Kirby of ETR Associates was a major contributor.

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