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

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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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 2006: af-aids@eforums.healthdev.org

Asia Pacific Regional Youth Forum

Youth are an integral part of the fight against HIV/AIDS because they are the most infected and affected by it. The main aims of the Asia Pacific Regional Youth Forum scheduled for August 18th, 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka is to equip and enable young people to effectively navigate and actively participate in all Congress activities while ensuring the voice of youth is heard. It will provide technical information and capacity building on the Political, Scientific, Economic and Social context of HIV/AIDS to young people. It will also be a platform where Youth will be enabled to highlight Youth specific issues to be lobbied for at the Main Conference and also look at how all 250 participants can work towards achieving that goal.

The Youth Forum hopes to cater to 250 youth from the Asia and Pacific region. It is a one-day event comprising of 6 sessions and 3 workshops conducted 9 resource persons proficient in the respective topics. Registration for these sessions will commence online from June 2007 and will be on a first come first serve basis as there will be 2 of 3 concurrent sessions, and 3 concurrent workshops.

The Youth Forum will commence with registration and light refreshments. At the registration all participants would be given a kit bag which will include, apart from the basic stationary, all handouts of the sessions and workshops. They will then attend the opening ceremony where all 250 youth delegates would be officially welcomed to the Youth Forum.

Participants will proceed to 3 concurrent sessions each approximately 2 hours in duration. Following a half hour break would be 3 concurrent workshops for the duration of one hour and lunch would follow. After lunch the final 3 concurrent sessions will take place and after tea, plenary and orientation to the main conference will take place for all 250 youth. The evening would come to an end with some exciting youthful entertainment. Below is the Agenda:

0800 - 0900 Registration & Light refreshments

0900 - 0930 Opening

0930 - 1130 3 concurrent sessions

1200 - 1300 3 concurrent workshops

1300 - 1400 Lunch

1400 - 1530 3 concurrent sessions

1530 - 1600 Tea

1600 - 1730 Plenary & Orientation to the main conference

1730 - 1930 Entertainment for youth

The topics that were selected for the 6 sessions and 3 workshops are as follows with a brief description of each



Sessions

1. LGBTI Youth and HIV
LGBTI youth and their fight against HIV/AIDS. Stigma & discrimination faced by LGBTI youth and how to overcome it. Advocacy including understanding of legal issues re: surrounding MSMs (homosexuality being either illegal or heavily taboo in much of SE Asia). Success stories of LGBTI youth.

2. Sex work Youth and HIV
Access to information, education and services for sex workers, their rights and policies. Sex-trade related human trafficking; laws re: commercial sex work + cultural stigma. Success stories related to sex workers.

3. Gender: Young women and their fight against HIV/AIDS
Reproductive health issues (access to information, education and services), socio economic and cultural barriers. Violence against women in conflict situations (war, domestic, other) ; Young women’s higher vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Success stories relating to reducing the risk faced by women.

4. Policy and how to advocate for change
Regional policy, policies of marginalized communities, access to reproductive health information. What works in your area? And can it work in mine? What has changed for young people affected by HIV? What can we do as young people? Lobbying for the implementation of international laws/covenants in domestic laws.

5. Stigma and discrimination
Stigma and discrimination against youth seeking information and services, changing attitudes towards marginalized and underprivileged communities, stigma and discrimination related to AIDS and to people who work with positive people, socio economic and cultural barriers. Discrimination against young people who are sexually active.

6. HIV 101
Technical knowledge on HIV (window period, PCT, HIV transmission, prevention, rapid testing, stages of the virus, difference between HIV/AIDS etc)




Work shops

1. Networking and the use of ICT in the fight against HIV/AIDS
Expanding use of new technologies among activists, NGO’s, civil society and stakeholders.

2. Effective Peer education
Innovative ways for peer education, How to approach vulnerable communities, Success stories.

3.Lobbying and networking within the conference and beyond
How to lobby within the conference, how to advocate to decision makers and speak to media on issues relevant to young people, how to deliver advocacy messages at the conference and beyond through the use of effective media etc.

All topics were selected in consultation with local as well as regional youth and advisors. We also took into consideration the feedback from the Toronto and Kobe Conferences. We feel that these topics are very comprehensive and cater to a wide audience of youth, interested in different aspects of HIV/AIDS. Each youth delegate would attend 2 sessions and 1 workshop of their choice and conclude with an orientation on how to successfully navigate through the main conference for maximum benefit.

Applications for Resource Persons will open by the end of January 2007. All prospective Resource Persons should ideally be from the Region and preference will be given to young people within the ages of 16 to 30. The Youth Sub-Committee in consultation with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) will select the most appropriate candidates.

It is the hope of the 8th ICAAP Youth Sub Committee that through Information, Advocacy and Relationship-building, these 250 youth delegates from the Asia and Pacific Region would be effective advocates for youth not only at the main conference but also in their home countries and internationally for an end to HIV and AIDS.

For more Information please feel free to contact me on youth@icaap8.lk

The ICAAP hopes to bring together 250 or more youth from the Asia and Pacific regions to come together as one and make their voices heard to support the fight against HIV/AIDS. It is crucial that young people voice their opinions on the changes they want to see and be advocates ensuring that it happens. In light of the theme for ICAAP 8 ‘Waves of Change, Waves of Hope’, it is evident that in order for there to be hope, Youth Need to be empowered to successfully combat this pandemic; given access to information, services, support and resources; identified and acknowledged as being key stakeholders in the fight against HIV/ AIDS; taken seriously and given the opportunity to be part of policies and decisions affecting their lives by being given the chance to express themselves and be heard!

Our main goal is to enable young people to effectively call for and carry out sustainable actions to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people, while our objectives are to ensure the participation of at least 250 young people at the 8th ICAAP; Ensure the voice of youth is heard at the 8th ICAAP; Secure support from adults, policy makers and stakeholders for the decisions of youth at the 8th ICAAP.

The main activities that we hope to undertake are as follows:

The Local Youth Forum will aim to sensitize youth about the issues affecting Sri Lankan youth and prompt them to question and evaluate programmes carried out in the name of youth in the region. We hope to target 50 youth per Local Youth Forum to be held in 5 different Districts targeting 5 different vulnerable groups and these youth will be given the necessary skills to champion the cause of HIV/AIDS in their own community. Due to low prevalence in Sri Lanka, youth are unaware of the imminent danger of contracting the virus. They need to be made aware of issues relating to young people’s reproductive health to spur them into taking positive steps leading to the involvement of youth in all efforts to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in Sri Lanka.

It is envisaged that the Local Youth Forum would feed into the Youth Pavilion, which is the third main youth activity at the congress. The experiences, opinions and needs of the marginalized youth in Sri Lanka will be reflected at the Youth Pavilion, in the form of an exhibition and briefing papers. Objectives of the Local Youth Forum are to sensitize local young people on HIV/AIDS, Build practical prevention skills & act as catalyst to initiate small-scale action plans on HIV/AIDS. The Final Convention would see the participation of young people of diverse backgrounds such as young people in the estate sector; the Katunayake Free Trade Zone and youth displaced by conflict and by the Tsunami.

Asia Pacific Regional Youth Forum: Youth are an integral part of the fight against HIV/AIDS as they are the most infected and affected by it. The main aims of the Youth Forum scheduled for August 18th are to equip and enable young people to effectively navigate and actively participate in all Congress activities while ensuring their voices are heard. It will provide technical information as well as capacity building in Political, Scientific, Economic and Social contexts. It will also be a platform for Youth to highlight Youth specific issues to be lobbied for at the Main Conference and to look at how participants can work towards achieving that goal.

This is a one-day event comprising of 6 sessions and 3 workshops. Registration for these sessions will commence online from June 2007 and will be on a first come first served basis. Sessions include PLWHA and their Rights, LGBTI and sex workers, Gender: Women, children and their fight against HIV/AIDS, Violence against Women, Socio-Economic and Cultural Barriers, Policy and how to advocate for change, Stigma and Discrimination, HIV 101. Workshops include Networking and use of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Effective Peer Education, Lobbying and Networking within the Conference and beyond.

The Youth Pavilion is an interactive youthful space, ideal for young people to review, day by day, the Congress and past declarations in keeping with what they wish to see in future. It is envisaged the youth will use this space to share their experiences and efforts in their respective countries in dealing with issues of HIV/AIDS. Youth speakers or those who submit abstracts will have the opportunity to share them at the Youth Pavilion and voice their opinions. We will provide opportunities for registered youth to electronically submit applications if they wish to share their experiences and work. An ‘exhibition space’ will be 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.

Our Objectives are to Provide space for the voice of youth to be heard; Encourage 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 issues facing young women and girls living in the region; Encourage adults to support the voice of youth.

The sessions will include: What is the world doing about HIV/AIDS & the role of young people, Youth Creativity, Street Theatre, ICT Tools & Regional Collaboration, Gender Vulnerability, HIV Prevention & Corporate Responsibility, Innovative ways of peer education, HIV/ AIDS Status in Sri Lanka, What’s happening in Asia?, Closer look at the Pacific, Working around Stigma & Discrimination, My sexual rights & the rights of a Positive person, Young People Living with HIV/ AIDS, vaccines & new preventive technologies, Understanding science and HIV/ AIDS prevention & treatment, Innovative initiatives for young people within the region addressing root causes of the spread of HIV/AIDS

For more information on the youth forum, contact the youth coordinator on, youth@icaap8.lk and the ICAAP8 Online discussion forum can be accessed at: http://www.hostmybb.com/phpbb/icaap8yf.html

The international conference for Asia and the pacific hopes to bring together 250 youth or more from the Asia and pacific regions to come together as one and make their voices heard to support the fight against HIV/AIDS. It is crucial that young people voice their opinions on the changes they want to see and be advocates ensuring that it happens.

In light of the theme for ICAAP 8 ‘Waves of Change, Waves of Hope’, it is evident that in order for there to be hope, Youth

•Need to be empowered to successfully combat this pandemic,
•Need to be given access to information, services, support and resources,
•Need to be identified and acknowledged as being one of the key stakeholders in this fight against HIV/AIDS,
•Need to be taken seriously and given the opportunity to be part of policies and decisions affecting their lives,
•Need to be given the chance to express them selves and have a right to be heard!

Our main goal is:
To enable young people to effectively call for and carry out sustainable actions to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people.

Our objectives are to:
•Ensure the participation of at least 250 young people at the 8th ICAAP.
•Ensure opportunities at the 8th ICAAP for the voice of youth to be heard.
•Secure support from adults, policy makers and stakeholders to support the decisions of youth at the 8th ICAAP.

The main activities that we hope to undertake are as follows:

Local Youth Forum
The Local Youth Forum will aim to sensitize youth about the issues affecting youth in Sri Lanka and prompt them to questions and evaluate all programmes carried out in the name of youth in Sri Lanka and the region. We hope to target 50 youth per Local Youth Forum, which will be held in 5 different Districts. These 250 Youth will be given the necessary skills to be champions of the cause of HIV/AIDS in our country as well as Asia-Pacific, and to effectively call for change on HIV/AIDS.

Asia Pacific Regional Youth Forum
The Pre-Conference aims to bring together 250 youth from Asia-pacific region. The main aim of the Pre-Conference Youth Forum is to equip and enable young people to effectively navigate through the Congress and actively participate in all Congress activities. It will also be an opportunity for young people to start thinking of what they want to see happen at the 8th ICAAP and how all 250 youth can work towards achieving that goal.

Youth Pavilion
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 submitted abstracts will have an opportunity to share them at the Youth Pavilion. Youth speakers will be given the stage to voice their opinion. We will also display an exhibition board for past and present achievements of youth from Asia and the Pacific, particularly in combating the epidemic. This will be an excellent space for adults to meet with young people and share in each other’s experiences and concerns.

For more information on the youth forum, contact the youth coordinator on, youth@icaap8.lk