HIV and Sexuality Education in Primary Schools by Country (Elementary Level, 2026)

Life skills-based HIV and sexuality education in primary schools (elementary level) equips young students with age-appropriate knowledge about health, relationships, and personal safety. This indicator tracks the percentage of primary 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 Primary Schools (Elementary Level)

Life skills-based HIV and sexuality education in primary schools (elementary level) focuses on age-appropriate topics including basic hygiene, understanding bodies, recognizing safe and unsafe situations, and building healthy relationships. These programs lay the foundation for comprehensive sexual health education in later years while protecting children through knowledge and awareness.

The data reveals significant global disparities, with 67 countries reporting measurable coverage at the primary education level. Many high-income nations and island states achieve universal coverage (100%), while several low-income countries struggle with implementation, showing rates below 5%. Regional patterns indicate that comprehensive sexuality education policies strongly influence primary school coverage rates.

HIV and Sexuality Education in Primary Schools by Country (Elementary Level, 2026)

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#	Country	2026 Projection (%)
1	Aruba AW	100%
2	Andorra AD	100%
3	Bahrain BH	100%
4	Cuba CU	100%
5	Cayman Islands KY	100%
6	Dominica DM	100%
7	Ecuador EC	100%
8	Eritrea ER	100%
9	Finland FI	100%
10	Fiji FJ	100%
11	Gibraltar GI	100%
12	Guyana GY	100%
13	Hong Kong HK	100%
14	Jamaica JM	100%
15	Kiribati KI	100%
16	Saint Kitts and Nevis KN	100%
17	Kuwait KW	100%
18	Saint Lucia LC	100%
19	Macau MO	100%
20	Monaco MC	100%
21	Mongolia MN	100%
22	Malawi MW	100%
23	Malaysia MY	100%
24	Niue NU	100%
25	Philippines PH	100%
26	Palau PW	100%
27	Papua New Guinea PG	100%
28	Qatar QA	100%
29	Rwanda RW	100%
30	Saudi Arabia SA	100%
31	San Marino SM	100%
32	Eswatini SZ	100%
33	Syria SY	100%
34	Turks and Caicos Islands TC	100%
35	Thailand TH	100%
36	Turkmenistan TM	100%
37	Uruguay UY	100%
38	British Virgin Islands VG	100%
39	Samoa WS	100%
40	Zimbabwe ZW	100%
41	Uzbekistan UZ	99.7%
42	Nicaragua NI	87.8%
43	Albania AL	87%
44	Namibia NA	85.2%
45	Seychelles SC	83.9%
46	Singapore SG	83.7%
47	Vietnam VN	77.1%
48	DR Congo CD	76.9%
49	Tanzania TZ	67.7%
50	Cameroon CM	48.2%
51	Grenada GD	48.1%
52	Micronesia FM	35.4%
53	Gambia GM	30.9%
54	Ivory Coast CI	29.7%
55	Botswana BW	27.5%
56	Venezuela VE	23%
57	Sierra Leone SL	17%
58	Solomon Islands SB	11.5%
59	Nepal NP	10.7%
60	Egypt EG	4.9%
61	Burkina Faso BF	1.4%
62	Mali ML	0.8%
63	Armenia AM	0.5%
64	Azerbaijan AZ	0.5%
65	Cook Islands CK	0.5%
66	India IN	0.5%
67	Liberia LR	0.5%
68	Mauritius MU	0.5%
69	Niger NE	0.5%
70	Nauru NR	0.5%
71	Oman OM	0.5%
72	Palestine PS	0.5%
73	Senegal SN	0.5%
74	Chad TD	0.5%
75	Tokelau TK	0.5%
76	Tuvalu TV	0.5%

Global Implementation Patterns

Countries achieving 100% coverage typically have national policies mandating comprehensive sexuality education from the primary education level. These include several small island developing states (Aruba, Anguilla), Gulf states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia), and several Asian nations (Cuba, Ecuador, Thailand, Vietnam). Universal coverage often reflects strong political commitment and well-resourced education systems.

At the other end of the spectrum, countries with coverage below 10% face significant barriers including cultural sensitivities, limited teacher training, resource constraints, and competing curriculum priorities. Burkina Faso (1.7%), Mali (0.8%), Niger (1.7%), and Egypt (4.9%) show particularly low implementation rates, highlighting the challenges in regions where HIV education faces social or political resistance.

Middle-range countries (20-60% coverage) often show gradual expansion of programs, with implementation varying by region, school type, or administrative capacity. These nations typically have supportive policies but face practical challenges in reaching all schools, particularly in rural or underserved areas.

HIV and Sexuality Education in Primary Schools by Country (Elementary 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	Bahrain	100%	-	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
4	Cuba	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
5	Cayman Islands	-	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
6	Dominica	100%	100%	100%	-	-	-	100%
7	Ecuador	-	-	-	-	100%	-	100%
8	Eritrea	-	-	100%	-	-	-	100%
9	Finland	100%	100%	-	-	-	-	100%
10	Fiji	-	-	-	100%	100%	-	100%
11	Gibraltar	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
12	Guyana	-	-	-	100%	100%	-	100%
13	Hong Kong	99.5%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
14	Jamaica	-	-	-	100%	-	-	100%
15	Kiribati	-	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%
19	Macau	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
20	Monaco	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
21	Mongolia	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
22	Malawi	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	-	100%
23	Malaysia	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
24	Niue	100%	-	-	100%	100%	100%	100%
25	Philippines	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
26	Palau	84.2%	100%	100%	100%	-	-	100%
27	Papua New Guinea	-	-	-	100%	-	-	100%
28	Qatar	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
29	Rwanda	-	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
30	Saudi Arabia	100%	100%	100%	-	100%	-	100%
31	San Marino	0%	0%	0%	100%	100%	-	100%
32	Eswatini	-	-	100%	100%	-	-	100%
33	Syria	98.9%	97.1%	99.9%	100%	100%	-	100%
34	Turks and Caicos Islands	-	-	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
35	Thailand	99.8%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
36	Turkmenistan	100%	-	-	-	-	-	100%
37	Uruguay	99.9%	100%	100%	-	-	-	100%
38	British Virgin Islands	-	-	-	-	100%	-	100%
39	Samoa	99.4%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
40	Zimbabwe	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	-	100%
41	Uzbekistan	30.3%	99.1%	99.1%	99.1%	99.2%	99.6%	99.7%
42	Nicaragua	-	-	87.8%	-	-	-	87.8%
43	Albania	67.2%	85%	-	-	-	-	87%
44	Namibia	80.2%	81.5%	85.3%	-	85.2%	-	85.2%
45	Seychelles	89.7%	86.7%	81.2%	83.9%	83.9%	-	83.9%
46	Singapore	83.5%	84.1%	84.6%	84%	-	-	83.7%
47	Vietnam	68.5%	71.8%	73.6%	74.5%	76.1%	-	77.1%
48	DR Congo	-	76.9%	-	-	-	-	76.9%
49	Tanzania	65.1%	66.5%	-	-	-	-	67.7%
50	Cameroon	-	66.5%	70.9%	-	58.2%	-	48.2%
51	Grenada	-	-	-	48.1%	48.1%	-	48.1%
52	Micronesia	-	51%	51%	35.4%	35.4%	-	35.4%
53	Gambia	-	-	35.2%	35%	38.3%	34.2%	30.9%
54	Ivory Coast	21.3%	21%	26.4%	27.7%	28.8%	-	29.7%
55	Botswana	-	54.6%	39.6%	-	-	-	27.5%
56	Venezuela	-	-	0%	-	20%	-	23%
57	Sierra Leone	22.6%	17.6%	18%	17.1%	17%	-	17%
58	Solomon Islands	-	-	-	13.9%	12.6%	-	11.5%
59	Nepal	-	10.3%	10.5%	-	-	-	10.7%
60	Egypt	-	-	-	-	4.9%	-	4.9%
61	Burkina Faso	2.2%	2.8%	-	2%	1.7%	-	1.4%
62	Mali	-	-	-	0.8%	-	-	0.8%
63	Armenia	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	-	0.5%
64	Azerbaijan	-	-	-	0%	0%	-	0.5%
65	Cook Islands	-	-	0%	0%	0%	-	0.5%
66	India	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	-	0.5%
67	Liberia	-	51.5%	5.8%	-	-	-	0.5%
68	Mauritius	-	0%	-	0%	0%	-	0.5%
69	Niger	-	3.4%	-	4.1%	1.7%	-	0.5%
70	Nauru	0%	-	0%	0%	0%	-	0.5%
71	Oman	0%	0%	-	-	-	-	0.5%
72	Palestine	0%	0%	0%	0%	-	-	0.5%
73	Senegal	-	16.7%	-	60.2%	21.4%	-	0.5%
74	Chad	-	0%	-	-	0%	-	0.5%
75	Tokelau	0%	0%	-	0%	-	-	0.5%
76	Tuvalu	0%	0%	0%	0%	-	-	0.5%

Methodology

This analysis presents HIV and sexuality education coverage rates in primary schools (elementary level, ISCED Level 1) across 67 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 primary education (ISCED Level 1). 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 primary 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 rates represent the proportion of primary schools offering structured HIV and sexuality education programs, not the quality or comprehensiveness of instruction. A rate of 100% indicates that all primary schools in the country provide some form of life skills-based HIV and sexuality education, while lower percentages indicate partial implementation.

Data Limitations: The data reflects official government reporting to UNESCO and may not capture informal or community-based education initiatives outside the formal school system. Country names have been standardized for consistency (e.g., "DR Congo" for Democratic Republic of the Congo, "Ivory Coast" for Côte d'Ivoire).