Youth Pavilion

Description

The youth pavilion is an interactive, ideal youthful space for young people to review, day by day, the Congress and past declarations in keeping with what they want to see happen in the future. It is envisaged that the youth will use this space to share their experiences and efforts in their respective countries in dealing with issues of HIV and AIDS.

Youth speakers or those who submit abstracts will have an opportunity to share them at the Youth Pavilion, and Youth will be given preference as choice of speakers.

An ‘exhibition space’ will be made available to display past and present achievements of youth from Asia and the Pacific, particularly in combating the epidemic. This will be particularly for those who were unable to secure a place in the Congress poster presentation. While being an excellent opportunity to secure support from adults and donors this will be an enriching learning experience for all members of the public attending the Congress.

Objectives

• Provide the space for the voice of youth to be heard

• Encourage the sharing of experiences and networking among youth and adults

• To put youth in touch with donors and policy makers

• Introduce new and innovative ways in combating the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region

• Highlight the issues facing young women and girls living in the region

• Encourage adults to support the voice of youth


Sessions

Each session will be 45 mins with a 15 minute period for questions and sharing. There will be atleast 4 sessions per day, 2 of which will be official sessions one at 8.30 in the morning briefing participants on the Congress Programme and the other at 6.00p.m, where youth Rapporteurs will share the minutes of the days proceedings. All session themes were finalized based on regional feedback.


Session Topics
Description


A
What is the world doing about HIV/AIDS? And the role of young people – GYCA Work.
Should include a comprehensive description of work done in the region with suitable examples and highlight any new innovative projects that have been introduced.


B

Youth Creativity Sessions

Entries from any organization/group focusing on Youth expression in the form of fashion, song, poetry are welcome. Please include examples of your work along with the Application Form.

C
Street Theatre
Eg: More than ABC’s
Street theatre or forum theatre groups dealing with issues of HIV/AIDS, stigma, awareness etc within the region are welcome to apply.

D
ICT Tools and Regional Collaboration
Should provide knowledge on using new technologies of networking and communication, example, How to set up a blog, e-groups, colloboration groups etc. Should also include examples of how and where these tools have proven effective.

E
Gender Vulnerability
Should focus on gender issues specific to the region, with examples of work being carried out in the region, how young women can join these networks etc.

F
Innovative ways of peer education
Eg: Through music, sports etc


G
HIV/AIDS Status in Sri Lanka

This should include statistics and information on HIV/AIDS work carried out in the region. Highlight issues affecting young people in Sri Lanka that make them vulnerable to HIV.

H
Closer look at the Pacific


I
Working around Stigma and Discrimination

J
My sexual rights and the rights of a Positive person – Youth Perspective

K
Young People Living with HIV/AIDS


L
ARV’s, vaccines and new preventive technologies: Understanding science and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment

M
Innovative initiatives for young people within the region addressing root causes of the spread of HIV/AIDS Eg: umemployment, education

For more information feel free to contact youth@icaap8.lk

RH Reality Check Seeks Global Writers on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Issues

RH Reality Check (www.RHRealityCheck.org
) is an online publication launched in May of 2006 to provide the latest analysis, news, and commentary on issues of sexual and reproductive health, with a particular emphasis of providing a rapid response
mechanism for experts in the field to counter trumped up data and ideological policies promoted by the far-right.

RH Reality Check is growing in response to community demand and seeks to add 5-6 weekly contract writers from different regions of the world. Writers will be paid a small stipend for their weekly contributions and will communicate with RH Reality Check staff via instant message and email. Writers will have experience in sexual and reproductive health issues and the ability to make policy conversations relevant to everyday life of the women and men around the world seeking reality based information about reproductive health.

Writers will be expected to write in English (we will post in native language as well), be familiar with journalistic style, able to interview people, provide reviews of information in books, movies, TV. The ability to do home produced video or digital photos is a plus, but not required. Writers who are actively engaged online, working with new media tools, and understand the importance of building online community will be given a preference as will writers eager to learn these new tools to share with others.
Writers should submit a resume, writing sample and tell us why you are motivated to write about sexual and reproductive health issues on a weekly basis.

Send to tyler@rhrealitycheck.org no later than February 22, 2007.

Please forward this to people you think would be interested in helping grow RH Reality Check into a global online community advancing progressive ideas on sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice issues.

Resource: Safe Passages to Adulthood - Collection of key writings UK Department for International Development


The six-year, UK Department for International Development (DfID) funded research programme - Safe Passages to Adulthood - has recently come to an end.


To celebrate the completion of the Safe Passages to Adulthood research programme, two of the directors of the project, Roger Ingham and Peter Aggleton have edited a collection of key writings by the researchers
involved in the work.


Promoting Young People's Sexual Health: International Perspectives Roger Ingham and Peter Aggleton (editors), Routledge, 2006 Chapters cover. Understanding young people and sexual health Uses and abuses of surveys on
the sexual behaviour of young people. Young people and condom use; findings from qualitative studies. The importance of context in seeking to understand and promote sexual health Gender, sexual behaviour and vulnerability among young people. Groups who are more vulnerable to poor sexual health Meeting the sexual health needs of young people living on the street. Young people's same-sex relationships, sexual health and well-being.


Sexual violence and young people's sexual health in developing countries: intersections For love or money: the role of exchange in young people's sexual relationships Approaches to improving youth sexual and reproductive health Using evaluation to improve the sexual health of young people Sexual health communication: letting young people have their say Young people and sex and relationships education Research and policy in young people's sexual health This newly published collection of writings on young people and sexual and reproductive health will be of interest to policy-makers, practitioners, researchers, teachers and students living and working across the world.


Available for purchase at: www.routledge.com or www.amazon.co.uk See: www.safepassages.soton.ac.uk/

for further details, including free resources which support the development of new ways of understanding and meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs of young people in resource-constrained settings.

Sent by: c.maxwell@ioe.ac.uk Stay Connected - Speak your world!

A posting from AF-AIDS (af-aids@eforums.healthdev.org)

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Australian Government To Consider $10M Safer-Sex Campaign Following Increase
in Recorded HIV Cases - [Jan 31, 2007]
The Australian government is considering a four-year, $10 million safer-sex campaign following a 41% increase in the number of new HIV cases in the country recorded from 2000 to 2005, the Daily Telegraph reports. A ministerial task force -- led by Michael Wooldridge, chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on AIDS, Sexual Health and Hepatitis and former health minister -- recommended the campaign (Daily Telegraph, 1/30).
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the campaign will target men who have sex with men, who account for 80% of HIV cases in the country.
Wooldridge said the first step in the campaign is to research why the number of HIV cases has increased in all Australian states except New South Wales. "This is something we have given a lot of thought to, ... we think it is prudent given the rise in infections to have a carefully targeted campaign,"
Wooldridge said, adding, "Clearly there is a whole younger generation who are missing the message, combined with safe sex fatigue from in their 30s
who are not seeing the threat (of HIV)." According to Don Baxter, executive director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, the campaign
will be cost-effective if it is targeted at the right population and will save approximately $450,000 for each averted new HIV case. Wooldridge urged
the government to implement the program as quickly as possible and said that some states, including Victoria, are at risk of reporting the highest number
of HIV cases since the 1980s. Although the campaign has not been developed, Health Minister Tony Abbott said it would not use scare tactics like
Australia's "Grim Reaper" HIV campaign, which was implemented in the 1980s.

Baxter said such a campaign would be rejected by viewers (Pollard, Sydney Morning Herald, 1/31). According to Baxter, the campaign should target MSM through the country's mainstream media. "I think one of the missing parts of our response is social marketing on mainstream media," he said, adding that because the gay community has "become more mainstream" in the last 10 or 15
years, HIV prevention messages should be directed toward MSM through mainstream media outlets. Funding for the campaign will be approved in the
next budget, the Australia Broadcast Corporation reports (Australian Broadcast Corporation, 1/30).

Source: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=42619


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News: 'Anti-Aids gel' trial is stopped
BBC News
1 February 2007
*****************

Clinical trials of a new drug designed to help prevent women contracting the Aids virus have been stopped.

The World Health Organization said the drug, which uses a microbicidal gel, did not help the women and made them more vulnerable.

The tests were carried out on more than 1,300 women in South Africa, Benin, Uganda and India.

The WHO and the United Nations Aids agency (UNAIDS) said it was not clear why the
product did not work.

A similar test in Nigeria has also been halted but trials of three other microbicides are still continuing.

The cellulose sulfate gel, based on seaweed and made by Canadian company Polydex Pharmaceuticals, was supposed to release an active ingredient designed to kill HIV during sexual intercourse.

"This is a disappointing and unexpected setback in the search for a safe and effective microbicide that can be used by women to protect themselves against HIV infection," said WHO and UNAids in a joint statement.

Around 30 women had contracted HIV since the trial started in 2005, the AFP news agency quotes study co-ordinator Tim Farley as saying.

Scientists had hoped that microbicides could have a major impact in the fight against Aids, especially in Africa, where women bear the brunt of the
disease.

They are being developed because it is often difficult for women to insist that men use condoms during sex.

"The closure of these trials is a stark reminder that drug development in general is a difficult and unpredictable process, and we must constantly bear in mind that the majority of drugs that enter the clinical trial process fail," said Zeda Rosenberg, the head of the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM).

The International Aids Society said it was extremely disappointed at the setback, but that lessons would be learnt. "This will strengthen future microbicide research and increase our overall knowledge of how such compounds work," IAS President Pedro Cahn told AFP news agency.

Online at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6319787.stm

---------
Stay Connected - Speak your world!

A posting from AF-AIDS (af-aids@eforums.healthdev.org)

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To join, send a blank message to join-af-aids@eforums.healthdev.org
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You are currently subscribed to AF-AIDS as: youth@icaap8.lk

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AF-AIDS is a regional eForum focused on HIV/AIDS and other health and development issues in Africa.

AF-AIDS is coordinated by the Health & Development Networks eForums Team (HDN, www.hdnet.org) on behalf of the AF-AIDS Steering Committee [Health Systems Trust (HST), HDN & the Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS)], with the support of Irish Aid (www.irishaid.gov.ie).

The views expressed in this forum do not necessarily reflect those of HDN, HST, SAfAIDS or Irish Aid.

Reproduction welcomed provided HDN is informed of usage and source is cited as follows: AF-AIDS eForum 2007: af-aids@eforums.healthdev.org