Digital Pulse - Ch 3 - Sec 3 - YouthLIFE

Development Issues: Youth, HIV/AIDS

Programme Summary

In October 2001, Advocates for Youth launched a 3-year initiative called Youth Leadership in Fighting the Epidemic (YouthLIFE) in order to build youth leadership capacity in the area of youth-specific HIV/AIDS prevention interventions and advocacy. The programme involves partnering with four youth-led NGOs in three countries: the Youth Health Organization (YOHO) of Botswana, the Youth Action Rangers of Nigeria (YARN), the Township AIDS Project (TAP) in South Africa and the South African Centre for Organizational Development (SACORD). Efforts include skills-based training, advocacy programme implementation, organisational development, and efforts to secure youth participation in policy making.

As a result of the 2002 Youth Leadership Institute, in Botswana, participants formed a Youth Activist Network (YAN) to bring together youth from various NGOs to collaborate on ways to improve youth reproductive and sexual health in their communities. The YAN offers a weekly forum for youth leaders to share information about activities, brainstorm on collaborative efforts, and transfer skills related to health promotion activities. In addition, young people successfully advocated for a position on the National AIDS Coordinating Association (NACA). The YAN representative on the NACA successfully advocated for a 50% increase in funding designated for youth programmes, including programmes to improve youth access to condoms.

Summary of ICT Initiatives

A key approach spanning all programme efforts is community (youth) participation.

YOHO – Botswana: Advocates for Youth is working with YOHO to implement youth-specific HIV/AIDS interventions, including the use of programmes that entertain while educating as a prevention strategy. YOHO promotes Ministry of Health programmes, such as those that focus on Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV/AIDS and blood donation, and are linked to the CDC BOTUSA project. It also conducts peer education programmes with in and out-of-school youth and uses various media outlets (radio and printed materials) to spread sexual health messages.

YARN – Nigeria: Advocates for Youth is helping YARN foster its organisational capacity as a sustainable NGO. Specifically, Advocates for Youth is helping establish a staffed office in Lagos, providing assistance with YARN's peer education programme, facilitating the offering of youth-friendly Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) services, and helping develop an interactive website. YARN is also working to secure youth participation at all levels of sexual health policy making.

SACORD - South Africa: Advocates for Youth is supporting SACORD a tertiary-institution student leadership organization with the development of its Mayihlome – “Graduate Alive Project.” They are employing a three-stage approach with Mobilization, Awareness, and Treatment phases. The awareness phase will employ an integrated media strategy utilizing different forms of media, such as: Newsletters, radio, TV, a website, posters and branding. A hotline will be set up to provide support and awareness catering specifically for the needs of students.

Advocates for Youth is also assisting YOHO in Botswana, YARN in Nigeria, and TAP in South Africa with the launch of cyber-café initiatives whereby youth are provided access to the Internet, guidance on how to access information on reproductive and sexual health, opportunities to create content for YouthShakers.org (an international youth activist website on reproductive and sexual health issues), and training to be online peer advisors. Cyber-café activities are intended to complement each NGO's existing youth outreach efforts by providing a virtual and physical space for youth.

Advocates for Youth also provides opportunities for staff from youth-led NGOs to expand their skills as educators and advocates, and to network with other youth HIV/AIDS activists. For example, Advocates sponsored an annual week-long Youth Leadership Institute for youth activists.

Finally, the project sponsors the participation of youth leaders in international conferences. It is hoped that these conferences will build their leadership skills and provide networking opportunities. For example, YouthLIFE supported 15 young people who helped organize the Barcelona YouthForce at the International AIDS Conference in Barcelona (July 2002). The YouthForce helped youth leaders attending the conference with networking, and also raised visibility about the lack of youth participation in HIV/AIDS policy making.

Partners: Advocates for Youth, YOHO, YARN, TAP, and SACORD. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Source: Letter sent from Nicole Cheetham to The Communication Initiative on March 17, 2003, and the SACORD website.

For More Information Contact:

Kent Klindera

Advocates for Youth

kent@advocatesforyouth.org

Youth Health Organization of Botswana

c/o BOTUSA Project

Gaborone - Botswana

Tel.: (267) 393-3537

vuyikent@yahoo.co.uk

Mr. Moses Imayi

Youth Action Rangers of Nigeria

Tel.: (234) 1.482.3550

mosesimayi@yahoo.co.uk

Mr. Freddy Pilusa

South African Centre for Organizational Development

Kasselsvlei 7535 - South Africa

Tel.: +(27) 12.440.3076 or 12.341 7765

Fax: +(27) 12.440.3168

Ms. Enea Montague

Township AIDS Project

tap@icon.co.za or

silvia01@telkomsa.net

OR

PO Box 4168

Johannesburg 2000 - South Africa

Tel.: +(27) 11.982.1016/27 or +(27) 11.833.6748/9

Fax: +(27) 11.838.5073