Recording Artist Melanie Durrant being interviewed by Musique Plus on
the 411 Initiative
for Change HIV/AIDS in school arts education programming, for
which she is a youth ambassador. Toronto, Canada
Below are brief descriptions of the current projects undertaken by GYCA North and South Secretariat staff, in collaboration with our members and outside partners. For in-depth information on activities in your region, please visit our regional pages.
1) E-Courses
2) World AIDS Day
3) Mexico City YouthForce
4) Living Positively
5) UNGASS
6) Youth-Friendly Version of Steady, Ready, Go!
7) Global Mapping
8) The International AIDS Conferences
9) GYCA members at the International Women’s Summit in Nairobi
10) GYCA published in George Washington University’s Public Health Journal, “Cases”
11) Planning for the Mexico International AIDS Conference 2008
12) GYCA contributes to UNAIDS IATT on Young People and HIV
13) Local Training Kits
14) Establishment of South Secretariat in Accra, Ghana
15) International Conference on the Reduction of Drug-Related Harm
2)World AIDS Day
GYCA members held 104 events in 34 countries to celebrate this World AIDS Day, December 1, in collaboration with World AIDS Campaign, around the theme of youth leadership.
Click Here to read our press release and details about the events!
In addition to worldwide events, GYCA and
TakingITGlobal held a World AIDS Day Live Online Chat on November 29th. The theme for the Live Chat was 'Keeping the Promise to Youth.' Speakers from GYCA from Ghana, Mexico and the US discussed: What promises have been made to youth affected by HIV/AIDS? Have these promises been delivered on? And what else needs to be done?
3) Mexico City YouthForce
AIDS 2008 has selected a Youth Working Group and announced GYCA’s RFP for Latin America,
Ricardo Baruch, as the AIDS2008 Youth Coordinator. The Mexico City YouthForce is working in collaboration with the YWG to plan the youth program. In December, they will begin forming sub-committees for the planning process. The YouthForce hopes to have a wide range of partnering organizations, and will be very open to your ideas and suggestions for the Conference.
So far, several groups are involved in different supporting roles, including but not limited to: Advocates for Youth, Ave de Mexico, Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS, IPPF, TakingITGlobal, UNFPA, World AIDS Campaign, Youth Coalition, & YWCA. Others who've indicated interest are Student Partnerships Worldwide, UNAIDS, and Plan.
For details, please read the first
Mexico City YouthForce newsletter.
4) Living Positively
GYCA members living with HIV launched a new community for youth living with HIV/AIDS last year, called
"Living Positively". The idea grew out of a meeting at the November 2006 World Health Organization Global Consultation on YPLHIV in Malawi, where participants suggested that GYCA build its Living Positively e-group into an established initiative. Living Positively is now a network led by— and geared specifically toward— YPLHIV. The aims of the Living Positively community are to support disclosure, advocacy, mentorship, reduction of stigma and discrimination as well as encourage leadership amongst YPLHIV. To do this, it profiles the experiences of HIV positive leaders, provides resources and links and invites YPLHIV to join its international network. Additionally, the community serves as a platform to gather information from youth living with HIV all over the world on the core elements of care, support, treatment and prevention for YPLHIV.
5) UNGASS
For the 2008 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS, GYCA, along with UNICEF and TakingITGlobal, are working to create a participatory online site that will facilitate the production of youth-researched and youth-written reports. These reports will focus on young people’s access to services, level of involvement, availability of information and other factors. After collecting the submissions, GYCA plans to work with UNFPA and UNAIDS to secure spaces on government delegations for the youth who have produced quality reports. GYCA will also seek to organize a roundtable where youth can report to delegations directly about their country’s progress, possibly complemented by an international press conference. More details will follow soon!
6) Youth-Friendly Version of Steady, Ready, Go!
The World Health Organization has contracted GYCA to create an interactive, youth-friendly version of its publication, "Steady, Ready, Go!" GYCA, with the help of Taking IT Global, will create an online classroom to encourage broader use of the publication, and by December 2007, the youth-friendly classroom will be complete, and a hard-copy of the youth-friendly publication produced!
7) Global Mapping
As a result of our on-line Global Directory, which currently includes close to 500 youth HIV initiatives, GYCA members have connected with hundreds of local youth organizations worldwide addressing HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and poverty at the community level. This year, RFPs and NFPs will be introduced not just to UN offices in their countries, but also to government officials, major NGOs and donors in an effort to foster meaningful youth-adult partnerships and to create better mechanisms that integrate skilled young leaders into national level policy processes in addition to programme implementation and evaluation.
8) The International AIDS Conferences
The YouthForce, a continuation of the Barcelona and Bangkok YouthForces that created GYCA, successfully raised the visibility of youth at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada, and resulted in an unprecedented number of scholarships and youth delegates, youth presentations, a vibrant advocacy and media campaign, commitments from high-profile decision-makers and lasting youth/adult partnerships. Prominent leaders who made commitments included Stephen Lewis, Peter Piot, Bill and Melinda Gates, Mary Robinson, Helene Gayle and Mexican Minister of Health Julio Frenk. Right now, the RFPs and NFPs are in the follow up process, using the opportunity to introduce local young leaders to adult allies in their community. Several success stories will be featured at an event in Mexico, and the Toronto YouthForce Documentary film showing commitments being made will be screened at GYCA local trainings internationally, as well as during the Mexico IAC.
9) GYCA members at the International Women’s Summit in Nairobi
At the 1st International Women’s Summit, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from July 4th through 7th, and organized by the YWCA and ICW, more than 2,000 women and some men from all over the world gathered to discuss the most important issues related to gender and HIV/AIDS.
On July 6th, some GYCA members, including Task Force member Emily Freeburg from, the U.S, East Africa RFP Stephen Kasoma, from Uganda, and Latin America Focal Point Ricardo Baruch, from Mexico, organized the Youth Networking Meeting along with the GYCA’s Kenya NFP, Emily Karechio. Issues addressed at the meeting included the challenges that young Africans face in getting involved with advocacy, the ways that young people can participate in the UNGASS review in their own countries, and the targets for universal access to antiretrovirals.
Another youth activity held during the Summit was the 48 Fest organized by MTV where 30 young persons made 6 short films on issues related to HIV/AIDS. The conference closed with a Youth Open Forum, organized by several organizations and held at City Hall, where youth and allies discussed the influence of religion, media and TV in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
10) GYCA published in George Washington University’s Public Health Journal, “Cases”
Evaluating E-Consultations as Catalysts for the Youth HIV/AIDS Movement
Santosh Vijaykumar, Joya Banerjee, Elizabeth A. Baker
Abstract
"As the number of young people affected by HIV/AIDS assumes massive proportions, social movements to tackle the pandemic need increased organization and innovation. The Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA) was conceived at the15th International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Bangkok, 2002, to synergize the efforts of thousands of youth organizations and networks spread around the world, by bringing them under a common umbrella.
GYCA is a decentralized organization that uses Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to manage programs implemented by regional and national coalition members. In this case study, we describe and critically evaluate two e-consultations that GYCA
conducted with its members: 1) a participatory, shared decision-making approach to inform the GYCA's initial strategic plan; and, 2) the development of program materials and the strategic advocacy plan for the 2006 IAC in Toronto. Our analyses identify critical strengths of e-consultations in meeting GYCA's aims, and important areas for improvement in future replications of the e-consultation model.
Finally, we discuss study implications for other public health issues, and the role of ICTs and e-consultations in technology-driven health communication programs."
11) Planning for the Mexico International AIDS Conference 2008 Building on its involvement as a key partner in the Toronto Youth Force at the XVI Toronto International AIDS Conference (IAC), GYCA is currently spearheading the planning process for youth-led and youth-related civil society participation through the Mexico Youth Force (MYF) at the Mexico IAC 2008 along with IPPF, Advocates for Youth, TakingITGlobal, UNFPA, Ave de Mexico, and YWCA. GYCA has nominated youth for committee positions, and is working with other MYF partners to ensure continued meaningful youth participation at next year's IAC, especially youth living with HIV.
12) GYCA contributes to UNAIDS IATT on Young People and HIV
As part of GYCA's ongoing work with the UNAIDS Interagency Task Team on Young People and HIV (IATT), GYCA is contributing to the development of its upcoming briefs on Most-At-Rist-Adolescents and MSM young people, which will also be included in the resources directory. GYCA staff will be participating in the July Paris meeting of the IATT.
13) Local Training Kits
GYCA staff are creating a local training planning kit to be launched in July on a particular HIV/AIDS theme (such as sexual and reproductive health, trade justice, debt relief, etc.) for a series of international trainings. The first is based on the theme of Youth-Friendly Services. The kit will include:
• Tips on how to organize an event (finding a venue, publicizing, etc);
• Sample Flyer;
• Fact Sheet about Issue;
• DVD documentary or short film about issue;
• Sample Op-Ed that can be translated and adapted for local media;
• Sample Press Release;
• Sample sign-on advocacy letter that can be sent to local public officials.
14) Establishment of South Secretariat in Accra, Ghana The goal of the South Secretariat is to facilitate a North-South dialogue that will create meaningful inroads for young people from the global South to participate as equal partners in decision-making processes. Since its inception, GYCA's South Secretariat has been based at Development Partnership International in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, an initiative created by one of GYCA's Co-Founders, Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima. However; as of 2006 DPI has shifted its focus to national political advocacy within Nigeria. As such, GYCA sent out a call for applications for a South-based organization with a focus on youth development issues and received many outstanding applications.
A Selection Committee with members from the Global North and South identified a top candidate in
Accra, Ghana. The office is already supported by the local World Bank office for a project on anti-corruption and the Millennium Development Goals with further prospects of support from UNFPA and the British Council.
15) International Conference on the Reduction of Drug-Related HarmFour GYCA members participated in the
18th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm (Warsaw, Poland, 13-17 May, 2007).
GYCA staff are supporting youth organizers to start the first international network addressing drug abuse and harm reduction for young people,
The International Youth Network for Harm Reduction. GYCA staff have created a website and conducted worldwide outreach to identify young leaders skilled in harm reduction, and current and former drug users to participate.
GYCA, along with the International Harm Reduction Association, the Canadian Youth Network for Harm Reduction, and UNICEF, held a Youth Satellite to precede the Conference. Caitlin Padgett, Vikram Laishram, Veronica Broasca, and Joya Banerjee spoke at a panel on youth issues in harm reduction, entitled "Coming of Age: Youth Living, Working, and Shaping the Next Generation of Harm Reduction."
Click here to view a powerpoint that gives an overview of the most pressing issues in harm reduction for youth which were discussed at Sunday's satellite meeting.
