HIV and Sexuality Education in Lower Secondary Schools by Country (Middle School Level, 2026)

Life skills-based HIV and sexuality education in lower secondary schools (middle school level) addresses adolescent development, puberty, relationships, and sexual health. This indicator tracks the percentage of lower secondary schools that provide structured HIV and sexuality education programs as part of their curriculum, following UNESCO SDG 4.7.2 definitions.

Understanding HIV Education in Lower Secondary Schools (Middle School Level)

Life skills-based HIV and sexuality education in lower secondary schools (middle school level) targets early adolescents during critical developmental years. Programs cover puberty, reproductive health, HIV prevention, consent, healthy relationships, and decision-making skills. This education level is particularly important as students navigate physical and emotional changes while developing their understanding of sexuality and relationships.

The data encompasses 78 countries with measurable coverage rates at the lower secondary education level. Over 50 countries achieve universal or near-universal coverage (95-100%), demonstrating strong commitment to adolescent sexual health education. However, significant gaps persist in some regions, with several countries showing coverage below 20%, indicating substantial barriers to implementation at the lower secondary school level.

HIV and Sexuality Education in Lower Secondary Schools by Country (Middle School Level, 2026)

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#	Country	2026 Projection (%)
1	Aruba AW	100%
2	Andorra AD	100%
3	Armenia AM	100%
4	Bahrain BH	100%
5	Cook Islands CK	100%
6	Cuba CU	100%
7	Cayman Islands KY	100%
8	Dominica DM	100%
9	Ecuador EC	100%
10	Eritrea ER	100%
11	Finland FI	100%
12	Gibraltar GI	100%
13	Guyana GY	100%
14	Hong Kong HK	100%
15	India IN	100%
16	Saint Kitts and Nevis KN	100%
17	Kuwait KW	100%
18	Saint Lucia LC	100%
19	Sri Lanka LK	100%
20	Macau MO	100%
21	Monaco MC	100%
22	Mongolia MN	100%
23	Malawi MW	100%
24	Malaysia MY	100%
25	Niue NU	100%
26	Oman OM	100%
27	Philippines PH	100%
28	Palau PW	100%
29	Papua New Guinea PG	100%
30	Qatar QA	100%
31	Rwanda RW	100%
32	Saudi Arabia SA	100%
33	San Marino SM	100%
34	Syria SY	100%
35	Turks and Caicos Islands TC	100%
36	Thailand TH	100%
37	Turkmenistan TM	100%
38	Tonga TO	100%
39	Tuvalu TV	100%
40	Uruguay UY	100%
41	British Virgin Islands VG	100%
42	Samoa WS	100%
43	Zimbabwe ZW	100%
44	Uzbekistan UZ	99.7%
45	Azerbaijan AZ	98.5%
46	Namibia NA	98.2%
47	China CN	96.8%
48	Singapore SG	90.2%
49	Cameroon CM	82.6%
50	Seychelles SC	81.2%
51	Costa Rica CR	80.4%
52	Palestine PS	79.4%
53	Vietnam VN	77.9%
54	Albania AL	76%
55	Ivory Coast CI	75.7%
56	Tanzania TZ	69.5%
57	Kiribati KI	69%
58	Nicaragua NI	61.1%
59	Bangladesh BD	47.4%
60	Gambia GM	40.3%
61	Micronesia FM	37.6%
62	Venezuela VE	35.2%
63	DR Congo CD	33.9%
64	Sierra Leone SL	32.2%
65	Grenada GD	24%
66	Timor-Leste TL	20.4%
67	Senegal SN	19.5%
68	Eswatini SZ	15.4%
69	Burkina Faso BF	15.2%
70	Nepal NP	7%
71	Egypt EG	6.7%
72	Mali ML	2%
73	Niger NE	1.3%
74	Togo TG	1.2%
75	Botswana BW	0.5%
76	Liberia LR	0.5%
77	Mauritius MU	0.5%
78	Nauru NR	0.5%
79	Tokelau TK	0.5%

Regional and Income-Level Patterns

High-income countries and small island developing states dominate the 100% coverage category, including Gulf nations (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia), Asian economies (Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore), and Caribbean states (Aruba, Anguilla, Cayman Islands). These countries benefit from well-resourced education systems, trained teachers, and supportive policy frameworks.

Middle-income countries show varied implementation. China (96.7%), Azerbaijan (98.8%), and Namibia (98.2%) demonstrate that strong political will can achieve high coverage regardless of income level. Bangladesh (60.7%), Costa Rica (80.4%), and Palestine (79.6%) show moderate coverage, often reflecting ongoing program expansion or regional variations in implementation.

Low-income countries face the greatest challenges. Mali (2.0%), Togo (1.2%), and Liberia (14.6%) struggle with limited resources, teacher shortages, and competing educational priorities. These low rates highlight the need for international support and capacity building to ensure adolescents in all countries receive essential sexual health education.

Comparing Elementary and Middle School Coverage

Middle school coverage rates often exceed elementary school rates in the same country, reflecting the age-appropriateness of more comprehensive sexuality education for adolescents. For example, Burkina Faso shows 1.7% elementary coverage but 16.8% middle school coverage, while Bangladesh has no elementary data but 60.7% middle school coverage. This pattern suggests that countries prioritize adolescent education even when primary-level programs are limited.

HIV and Sexuality Education in Lower Secondary Schools by Country (Middle School Level, 2026)

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#	Country	2020 (%)	2021 (%)	2022 (%)	2023 (%)	2024 (%)	2025 (%)	2026 Projection (%)
1	Aruba	-	-	-	-	100%	-	100%
2	Andorra	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
3	Armenia	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
4	Bahrain	100%	-	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
5	Cook Islands	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
6	Cuba	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
7	Cayman Islands	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
8	Dominica	100%	100%	100%	-	-	-	100%
9	Ecuador	-	-	-	-	100%	-	100%
10	Eritrea	-	-	100%	-	-	-	100%
11	Finland	100%	100%	-	-	-	-	100%
12	Gibraltar	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
13	Guyana	-	-	-	100%	100%	-	100%
14	Hong Kong	96.5%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
15	India	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
16	Saint Kitts and Nevis	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
17	Kuwait	100%	100%	-	-	-	-	100%
18	Saint Lucia	100%	-	-	100%	-	-	100%
19	Sri Lanka	98.7%	-	100%	100%	-	-	100%
20	Macau	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
21	Monaco	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
22	Mongolia	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
23	Malawi	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	-	100%
24	Malaysia	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
25	Niue	100%	-	-	100%	100%	100%	100%
26	Oman	98.7%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
27	Philippines	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
28	Palau	84.2%	100%	100%	100%	-	-	100%
29	Papua New Guinea	-	-	100%	100%	-	-	100%
30	Qatar	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
31	Rwanda	-	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
32	Saudi Arabia	100%	100%	100%	-	100%	-	100%
33	San Marino	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
34	Syria	99.9%	-	99.9%	100%	100%	-	100%
35	Turks and Caicos Islands	-	-	94.1%	100%	-	-	100%
36	Thailand	99.5%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
37	Turkmenistan	100%	-	-	-	-	-	100%
38	Tonga	-	-	-	-	100%	-	100%
39	Tuvalu	18.2%	16.7%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
40	Uruguay	100%	100%	100%	-	-	-	100%
41	British Virgin Islands	-	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
42	Samoa	99.4%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
43	Zimbabwe	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
44	Uzbekistan	20.1%	99.1%	99.1%	99.1%	99.2%	99.6%	99.7%
45	Azerbaijan	-	-	-	100%	98.8%	-	98.5%
46	Namibia	100%	97.6%	97.7%	98.1%	98.2%	-	98.2%
47	China	87.1%	89.6%	94.1%	96.2%	96.7%	-	96.8%
48	Singapore	86.2%	90.5%	91%	90.4%	-	-	90.2%
49	Cameroon	-	-	80.2%	81.7%	-	-	82.6%
50	Seychelles	86.7%	86.7%	81.2%	81.2%	81.2%	-	81.2%
51	Costa Rica	80.4%	-	-	-	-	-	80.4%
52	Palestine	77.9%	78.5%	79.9%	79.6%	-	-	79.4%
53	Vietnam	-	73.5%	74%	76.5%	77.4%	-	77.9%
54	Albania	100%	85%	-	-	-	-	76%
55	Ivory Coast	65.4%	66.2%	66.7%	58.2%	73.7%	-	75.7%
56	Tanzania	65.5%	67.7%	-	-	-	-	69.5%
57	Kiribati	-	100%	100%	100%	80.6%	-	69%
58	Nicaragua	-	-	61.1%	-	-	-	61.1%
59	Bangladesh	-	-	-	77.3%	60.7%	-	47.4%
60	Gambia	-	-	41%	42.2%	44.3%	42.1%	40.3%
61	Micronesia	-	50%	50%	36.3%	37%	-	37.6%
62	Venezuela	-	-	0.8%	-	32.2%	-	35.2%
63	DR Congo	-	33.9%	-	-	-	-	33.9%
64	Sierra Leone	49.5%	34.4%	37.7%	32.5%	32.4%	-	32.2%
65	Grenada	-	-	-	20%	22.2%	-	24%
66	Timor-Leste	-	-	-	20.4%	-	-	20.4%
67	Senegal	-	-	-	-	19.5%	-	19.5%
68	Eswatini	-	-	15.8%	15.5%	-	-	15.4%
69	Burkina Faso	21.1%	19.4%	-	18.8%	16.8%	-	15.2%
70	Nepal	-	13.8%	10%	-	-	-	7%
71	Egypt	-	-	-	-	6.7%	-	6.7%
72	Mali	-	-	-	2%	-	-	2%
73	Niger	-	100%	-	94.3%	42.7%	-	1.3%
74	Togo	-	1.2%	-	-	-	-	1.2%
75	Botswana	-	66.9%	29.5%	-	-	-	0.5%
76	Liberia	-	56.5%	14.6%	-	-	-	0.5%
77	Mauritius	-	0%	-	0%	0%	-	0.5%
78	Nauru	20%	-	0%	0%	0%	-	0.5%
79	Tokelau	0%	0%	-	0%	-	-	0.5%

Methodology

This assessment examines HIV and sexuality education coverage in lower secondary schools (middle school level, ISCED Level 2) across 78 countries using data from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) spanning 2020-2025, with 2026 projections following SDG 4.7.2 indicator definitions.

Data Source and Processing: The source data was obtained from UNESCO UIS database for SDG Indicator 4.7.2 (percentage of schools providing life skills-based HIV and sexuality education), specifically for lower secondary education (ISCED Level 2). From the raw dataset, we excluded: (1) countries reporting "Magnitude Nil Or Negligible" as these indicate no measurable program implementation, (2) regional aggregates and country groups (keeping only individual countries with 3-letter ISO codes), and (3) data points from before 2020 to focus on recent implementation trends.

Latest Year Data (CSV DATA section): For each country, we selected the most recent available coverage percentage from years 2020-2025. If a country had multiple data points, only the latest year was used for the single-year CSV. This represents the most current snapshot of lower secondary school HIV education coverage.

Multi-Year Data (MTABLE CSV DATA section): For countries with data from multiple years between 2020-2025, all available years are presented to show implementation trends over time. This allows readers to see whether coverage is increasing, stable, or declining.

2026 Projections: Projections were developed through manual analysis of each country's recent trends (2020-2025 data), policy environment, and implementation context. No automatic formulas were used. Each projection considered: (1) the country's latest coverage rate, (2) recent trend direction (increasing, stable, or declining), (3) implementation momentum, and (4) saturation effects for countries already at high coverage. Countries at or near 100% coverage maintain current levels as these represent full implementation. Countries showing consistent growth were projected with modest continued increases while respecting realistic constraints. Countries with declining trends were projected to stabilize or show minimal further decline. Countries with very low coverage (<5%) were projected conservatively.

Data Interpretation: Coverage percentages reflect the proportion of lower secondary schools offering structured HIV and sexuality education programs. A 100% rate indicates universal provision across all lower secondary schools, while lower percentages show partial implementation. The data does not assess program quality, curriculum content, or instructional effectiveness.

Data Limitations: The information represents official government reporting to UNESCO and may not capture non-formal education initiatives or community-based programs operating outside the formal school system. Country names follow standardized conventions for consistency across datasets.