The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs

This thesis researches the effectiveness of life skills education programs focused on HIV/AIDS prevention in Sub-Saharan and South Africa. Using a well-rounded literature approach, varying from anthropologists and psychologists to development practitioners, teachers, and institution publications, analysis is drawn on the problem of why programs are still deemed ineffective when there are guidelines to work from for executing successful programs. Research discusses culture, disease, and politics; assesses life skills education programs through evaluations and case studies; the implementation of programs and how that affects outcomes; and the varying scales and criteria that are used to measure effectiveness.