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Newsletter
Contents:
1) A Note from the Program Director
2) Mexico Youth Force Pre-Conference for AIDS2008
3) GYCA-Latin America creates strategic plan
5) All Roads Lead to Dakar: ICASA 2008
The Global Youth
Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA) is a youth-led, UNFPA and UNAIDS-supported
international network of over 4000 young people and adult allies working to end
the spread of HIV and AIDS in over 150 countries.
1) A Note from the Program Director
Dear GYCA Members,
It has only been two short months since I joined GYCA as
the new Program Director, and yet they have been a very eventful two
months. I was so lucky to have begun my
time at GYCA with the International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Mexico City, where
I had the chance to meet and talk with so many members. Reshma sent a summary of GYCA activities at
the IAC – more information is available at youthaids2008.org – so I won’t
restate them all here except to say that I was impressed beyond words with the
professionalism, intelligence, and energy of our members.
Next on our agenda in New York is putting the finishing
touches on the World AIDS Day organizing toolkit as well as our own plans for
World AIDS Day here in New York. One of
the key events for World AIDS Day will be the official launch of the new
interactive portal, iAIDS.org, that GYCA built with UNICEF and
TakingITGlobal. Stay tuned for more
details about how to participate in this exciting new forum.
At the end of September, the staff of the North and South
Secretariats will be in New York for a two-day strategic planning session to
develop a plan for GYCA’s next two years of activities. This plan will be informed by the recent
evaluation of GYCA’s past four years, the feedback we received from the GYCA
members meeting at the IAC, and all of our more informal conversations with
members over the years. We will be
sharing the findings of the evaluation in late-September after which we will
send around the two-year plan for your input, comments, and critiques.
Best,
Rachel
2) Mexico Youth Force Pre-Conference
for AIDS 2008!
Small group work at
the Pre-Conference
Over 300 young people, including many GYCA members,
attended the Mexico YouthForce Pre-Conference, held from July 31stthrough August 2nd, and supported by UNFPA and other donors. Of those, just over half were from Latin
America. In addition, there was also strong representation from North America
and the Caribbean, along with a smaller number of participants from a wide
range of countries all over the world.
Participants included many young experienced activists, as well as those
excited to get involved in the field.
The Pre-Conference was only one of several activities of
the Mexico YouthForce, the coalition of youth-led and youth-serving
organizations promoting youth participation at the International AIDS
Conference, of which GYCA was a key member. Other activities included an
advocacy campaign, a youth reception, a youth pavilion area in the conference’s
Global Village, and a coordinated youth media campaign. Stay posted for
full-length reports on these activities, which will be sent out over GYCA’s
listserv and posted on our website.
During sessions, which took place in both English and
Spanish, participants gained a range of skills such as effective messaging and
advocating for policy change, and increased their knowledge on topics such as
the gendered impact of HIV, youth rights, and epidemiology. Of the almost 75
presenters who shared their expertise and experiences, the large majority were
also youth participants in the Pre-Conference. Session rooms were filled with
lively dialogue and interactive small group work, with participants filling up
large sheets of paper with ideas and acting out scenarios.
Some key themes highlighted in discussions included the right to
comprehensive sexuality education and harm reduction services, the
need to allocate both human and financial resources to young people, the
importance of respecting the realities of young people’s lives, and the fact
that young people are an extremely heterogeneous group, who are also part of
other marginalized groups, such as sex workers, drug users, and men who have
sex with men. Participants also highlighted structural factors that contribute
to young people’s vulnerability to HIV, such as gender inequality, homophobia,
and violations of their human rights.
To close the Pre-Conference, participants took their
commitment to the streets and participated in the 1st International
March Against Homophobia, Stigma and Discrimination, where they made a striking
visual statement with the bright pink YouthForce t-shirts bearing key advocacy
messages.
Taking it to the
streets at the March Against Homophobia, Stigma, and Discrimination
3) GYCA-Latin America creates
strategic plan
By Rodrigo Olin, Mexico
The Latin America
team!
In the lead-up to the XVII International AIDS Conference,
many young people came together, not only to be at the Youth Pre-Conference for
the IAC, but also for many other activities taking place around this large
international AIDS event. Many activists took advantage of their time in Mexico
to not only meet together and see friends, but also to work together and build
plans for the future.
For the GYCA National Focal Points for Latin America -
José Olmedo from Panamá, Christian Landeta from Ecuador, Luis Augusto Rivera
from Colombia, Ivens Reis from Brazil, Danilo Romano from Bolivia, Betiana
Cáceres from Argentina, Daniel Serrano from México and Rodrigo Olin, Regional
Focal Point - the conference allowed us
to meet and get to know one another. Even though we’d already established
communication though Skype, we only knew each others’ voices. Meeting together
in person was a great opportunity to spend time together, build links of
friendship, learn about the work that each of us does at home, but especially
to work together on creating a strategic action plan for GYCA’s Latin American
region.
It was a very productive meeting in many ways. We had the
opportunity to discuss the necessities that we face in particular in our countries,
as well as to identify how we could improve our work in political advocacy and
what we could do to increase the capacities and participation of young people
in conferences and international spaces. Even though these discussions were the
first step, they helped tremendously to define the work of the National Focal
Points. We look forward to sharing our plan of activities as the Latin American
team of GYCA with you soon!
4) GYCA Worldwide: Local Gatherings!
Training in Guyana
Youth thinking about
their futures in Guyana
Natasha Grovesnor, Caribbean RFP, recently held a local
gathering for GYCA in the Georgetown area for a group of young teenagers.
During the training, which was held over two successive weeks, participants
brainstormed what they wanted for their future; not surprisingly, no one
mentioned wanting HIV or an STI! Following this, the group discussed why young
people are at risk for HIV, and took some time to think individually through
choices they might make around pursuing a relationship with a person of known
and of unknown HIV status.
The session closed with a discussion on the how choices
are made with limited or no information, which can have serious repercussions,
including HIV infection. Participants shared freely with the group experiences
when uninformed decisions were made, as well as the consequences of those
decisions. The session ended with each
youth committing to seek information, guidance, and advice before making
decisions, especially the decision to have sex, whether a debut experience or
for those sexually active.
Candlelight Memorial
in Cameroon
Nahbila Tabenyang, Central Africa RFP, and Asue Franklin
Kang, Cameroon NFP, organized a candlelight memorial in remembrance of those
lost to AIDS and a TV appearance as a means to influence public opinion and
mobilize public pressure to mark Cameroon’s AIDS week. Many groups were
involved in the activities, including those affected and infected by HIV and
AIDS, students, pastors, youth, women’s groups, and representatives of
faith-based organizations, congregations, and other non-governmental
organizations.
The activists mobilized around this year’s theme, “One
Week One Voice, Is The World Doing Enough To Stop HIV and AIDS?” and
demanded more actions from the government and the international community to
step up the fight against HIV and AIDS in Cameroon and the world at large. They
called for more access to treatment; the end to violence against women; greater
sensitization to the ABC methods to stop HIV and AIDS; more money in the fight
against HIV and AIDS; the need to promote and respect the rights of people
living with HIV and AIDS; transparency in the management of funds allocated for
the fight; making second line treatment free in Cameroon; making antiretroviral
treatment available in all treatment centers, especially those in rural areas;
granting effective support to OVCs, especially to poor families and rural areas
who are unable to afford one meal a day; allocating more resources to networks;
and, the general need for a greater concern of the plight of people living with
HIV and AIDS.
Networking Meeting
in Kenya
The 2008 GYCA Kenya networking meeting was held at SOS
Youth Centre in Buruburu, Nairobi in late June, with 59 young people in
attendance. The aim of the meeting was to showcase projects and campaigns,
exchange information, and explore opportunities for collaboration and
networking. The local meeting also provided space for sharing the visions of
the HIV/AIDS youth movement locally, regionally and globally, with the goal of creating
a self-sustaining network of young people in their communities.
During the meeting, organized by a strong team of
GYCA-Kenya members, participants learned about GYCA and its ongoing work in
Kenya and beyond. Members discussed the HIV-related initiatives that they are
currently working on, including engaging youth with disabilities, and a heated
debate on stigma. Recent and future conferences were also discussed, including
the International AIDS Conference, the upcoming ICASA conference, and the
recent National Organization of Peer Educators (NOPE) Conference, which aimed
to promote the role of peer educators and other stakeholders in the elimination
of stigma and discrimination against persons living with or affected by HIV and
AIDS. Youth were involved in all aspects of the conference and a preparatory
pre-conference, where GYCA members led sessions on networking and behavior
change communication.
The meeting concluded with presentations on potential
sources of funding for youth projects, as well as ongoing GYCA projects that
members could get involved in, such as Christabell Opudo’s “Together Against
Stigma” Campaign, Edgar Makona’s Male Circumcision Advocacy Project, and Eric
Ochieng’s Environment and Young Achievers project. The meeting closed with a
discussion of how to build GYCA’s work in Kenya. “I hope we will strive to make
GYCA-Kenya stronger for it to be a model for others to emulate,” said Veronicah
Omunga.
Organizers consult:
Victor, Stephen, Emily, and Edgar chat at the meeting
AIDS Awareness and
Blood Donation in Ghana
On National Blood Donation Day, the members of Action for
Community Development (AFCODEV) and the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS
(GYCA) in the Northern Ghana organized a healthy blood donation campaign at the
Tamale Teaching Hospital, aiming to draw attention to the shortage of blood in
blood banks and to sensitize the youth who participated in the campaign on the
need to maintain healthy life styles to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. Mr. Abdul-Mumin
Yussif, director of projects at AFCODEV, called on the people of the region to
treat PLHIV with care and compassion, and said that plans are far advanced to
get more of the youth in the region to join GYCA.
5) All Roads Lead to Dakar: ICASA 2008
By Sydney Hushie. Ghana
ICASA, a
biennial International Conference of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases
(STI) in Africa, brings together actors involved in the response to HIV/AIDS
from Africa and other continents. This
year, the XVth conference will take place in the beautiful city of Dakar, Senegal,
from 3 - 7 December 2008, with the theme, “Africa’s response: facing the
facts.”
At this
year’s ICASA, international and African HIV experts will seize the opportunity
to evaluate the current state of the HIV epidemic and other STIs in Africa with
regard to science, community and leadership. ICASA 2008 will help to recognise
the contributions, successes and ambitions of each stakeholder, as well as
acknowledge the weaknesses and shortfalls of the different initiatives
responding to HIV in Africa.
For the
first time in the history of the conference, children and young people will be
actively engaged in the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of
the conference. The ICASA Youthfront is a coalition of international and local
youth organisations, coalitions, and networks working on HIV/AIDS, STIs, and
Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) of young people across the continent. The
mandate of the Youthfront, coordinated by GYCA, is to organise a comprehensive
youth programme for ICASA.
As part of
the youth programme, the YouthFront is organising activities for youth
participants before, during, and after the conference. Some of those activities
scheduled to happen before ICASA include an e-forum (http://groups.
takingitglobal.org/icasa2008), orientations for youth
presenters, and a Youth Pre-Conference
from the 30th of November
until the 2nd of December,
2008. During ICASA, there will be a Youth Mentoring Programme, a Youth Space in
the Global Village, a Youth Reception/Fundraiser Gala, a Commitments Desk, and
a range of sessions, panels, and presentations on youth issues, many of them
led by young people. After ICASA, we will follow up on commitments made,
evaluate the mentoring programme, implement youth outcomes, and produce a
conference video and report.
Get
involved in the ICASA process! Visit the ICASA website: www.icasadakar2008.org and the youth
website: www.youthicasa2008.org.
Bienvenue a Dakar/Welcome to Dakar!
6) Living Positively: Pablo Torres
Aguilera, Age 23, Mexico
How
long have you been positive, and how did you find out about your status? I’ve been
positive for less than a year. I went with my best friends to take the HIV
test, sure that I was negative. I went
just to support them, but the result was they were going to support me.
How
did you feel when you found out? First it was a
shock, of course! But I just took a deep breath, and I told myself “Everything
is going to be all right,” and the support of my best friends was the best
thing I could have at that precise moment.
What
did your family say or think about you? First I kept the secret for a while, but then
I decided that if I am OK, what should be bad, so… I told them. Of course it
was a very shocking experience but now we are so fine, they accept me 100%,
they support me, they love me… and so do I.
I really hope each YPLHIV could have a family that really understands
their needs, and talk about their feelings.
Can
you share tips of how to live positively? Well, it is so
recent for me so maybe I don’t have the key to success… but what pushes me
always and makes me feel everything is going good is to talk… TALK to other
people that feel like me, live with me… and share my good and bad moments.
Activism, trying to make sure that others receive just what they need to live
their lives just as a normal young person, gives me the strength to keep
pushing on
How
has being positive affected what you do now? Actually
it hasn’t affected my life or the way I live it: I’m healthy now so I can carry
on my activities as usual. It gives me another view of the situation; I enjoy
so many things I didn’t enjoy before, and I’m more focused on my projects. I
see it as an opportunity of a new beginning to give my best no matter what and
to leave what I just don’t need.
What
is your greatest ambition in life? My first is to
finish my major (International Relations): I hope it will turn into reality!
Find the right place where I can develop my projects and find the right way to
achieve goals with YPLHIV; as I want to give the same opportunities to all
youth living with HIV in the world. And of course the biggest dream is to see
youth of the world taking action, to see every young person with HIV happy,
free and living like every other young person!
Do
you think that being HIV positive may stop you from realizing this dream, or
has it stopped you? NO! It gave me more power because
now I can understand more what the real needs are and what are the really
urgent actions we need.
What
do you think that can be done to halt the spread of the HIV virus? An
Integral Sexual Education is BASIC! I think … Sometimes we have the information
right in front of our eyes but we don’t make it ours, we need to feel involved
to see that what happens to others is also about us! We need specialized
education, not just “education”, but specialized places for young people, with
people who know what we are going through and can talk to us about their
experiences.
What is
the greatest assistance in your own opinion that stakeholders can do
for young people living positively? Really
try to walk in our shoes, just for a while… How would they feel? What do they
think is missing? Why do they think it is missing? Maybe that’s the biggest
problem why they don’t take actions sometimes: they think those kind of
problems are so far from them so they help… but not in the ways that we need!
Have
you ever faced stigmatization maybe at work, home, or school?
I’ve never felt discrimination about my positive condition, but I have about my
sexual preference. It is not nice to see how people make fun of your way of
life, but the sad thing here is not how they discriminate: the saddest thing is
to see how people can’t open their minds to accept difference. Why is being
different wrong for them? I really can’t stand it!
What
advice do you have for young people that are living positively and cannot
disclose their status, due to depression, fear of stigmatization, and so on? It
is really hard to deal with this all by yourself, sometimes you can find
yourself so alone… So try to talk with a professional; if you cannot find
somebody to talk to, look around! There are too many people on this world,
somebody before passed through what you are living now! And believe me no
matter how hard it is… you are your best friend; you are the only one that can
rescue yourself! Information is a very important tool that will help you to
accept you… and will help others to learn what you need! JUST KEEP PUSHING ON!
Who
are your role models? Why? Those people that day by day
try harder to finish the battle with HIV, because for some people it is a
battle, because they are discriminated against, because they don’t have
treatment, because they don’t have food to eat, because they are far from their
families… a lot of reasons that makes HIV harder!!!!.. THEY DEFINITELY ARE MY
ROLE MODELS. And my mom is my role model J
what a beautiful woman!
State
anything else you want to share that you haven’t answered above:
It’s time for the world to see youth as part of the solution, not as a
problem! We
are the present, not the future!
To submit youth, HIV and SRH-focused content to the newsletter, please email Rachel Jacobson (rachel@youthaidscoalition.org). Anyone can join GYCA at http://www.youthaidscoalition.org/join.html