YouthLIFE—Botswana, Nigeria, and South Africa
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's leadership
capacity in the area of youth-specific HIV/AIDS prevention interventions
and advocacy. The program 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 Organisational Development (SACORD).
Efforts include skills-based
training, advocacy program implementation, organizational development, and
efforts to secure youth participation in policy
making.
Main Communication Strategies
A key approach spanning all program efforts is community (youth) participation.
In
Botswana, Advocates for Youth is working with YOHO to implement youth-specific
HIV/AIDS interventions, including the use of program that entertain while
educating as a prevention strategy. YOHO promotes Ministry of Health program,
such as those
that focus on preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV/AIDS
and on blood donation. It also conducts peer education program with in-
and out-of-school
youth and uses various media outlets (radio and printed materials) to spread
sexual health messages. Finally, Advocates for Youth assists YOHO in its
efforts to increase the participation of youth participation in policymaking
bodies by
offering advocacy and leadership
skills training sessions.
In Nigeria, Advocates for Youth is helping YARN
foster its organizational capacity as a sustainable NGO. Specifically,
Advocates for Youth is helping
establish
a staffed office in Lagos, providing assistance with YARN's peer education
program, facilitating the offering of youth-friendly voluntary counseling
and testing
(VCT) services, and helping develop an interactive Web site. YARN is also
working to secure youth's participation at all levels of
sexual health policy making.
In South Africa, Advocates for Youth is supporting
SACORD in the development of the Mayihlome Graduate Alive Project, a tertiary
institution-based HIV/AIDS
student leadership project. Through regional leadership trainings and one-on-one
meetings, SACORD is providing technical assistance to student leaders who
seek to organize campus-wide HIV/AIDS awareness raising and stigma reduction
activities.
Advocates for Youth is also assisting SACORD in developing an interactive
Web site and radio programs.
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,
and trained 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 a weeklong, 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 youth's leadership
skills and provide them with 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.
Key Points
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's reproductive and sexual health in their
communities. The YAN offers a weekly forum for young 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 percent increase in
funding designated for youth programs, including
programs to improve youth's access to condoms.
In Nigeria, youth activists also developed plans to press for more participation
by youth on decision making bodies. One youth activist educated his peers
about the importance of youth's participation in decisions that affect
their reproductive and sexual health. In turn, these youth activists
helped secure
a position
for a young person on the Nigerian national coordinating mechanism for
the Global
Fund on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, the CISGHAN (Civil Society Consultative
Group on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria).
In South Africa, youth activists held a workshop in October 2002 for
30 university students on the importance of comprehensive sexuality education
and
youth's access to sexual health services.
Partners
Advocates for Youth, YOHO, YARN, TAP, and SACORD. Funded by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
For More Information, Contact
Kent Klindera
Director, YouthLIFE Initiative
Advocates for Youth
2000 M Street NW, Suite
750
Washington, DC 20036 USA
Phone: (202)
419-3420
Fax: (202) 419-1448
www.advocatesforyouth.org
Individual Partners
Mr. Vuyisele Otukile
Youth Health Organization of Botswana
c/o BOTUSA Project
PO Box 90
Gaborone—Botswana
Phone: (267) 393-3537
vuyikent@yahoo.co.uk
Mr. Moses Imayi
Youth Action Rangers of Nigeria
56, Moleye Street; Off Alagomegi
Sabo, Yaba, Lagos—Nigeria
Phone: (234) 1.482.3550
mosesimayi@yahoo.co.uk
Mr. Freddy Pilusa
South African Centre for Organisational Development
Barclay Square—Office 406
Sunnyside, Pretoria 0001—South Africa
pilusa@sacord.co.za
OR
PO Box 494
Kasselsvlei 7535—South Africa
Phone: +(27) 12.440.3076 or 12.341 7765
Fax: +(27) 12.440.3168
Ms. Enea Montague
Township AIDS Project
Ipeleng Community Center
White City, Jabavu, Soweto—South Africa
tap@icon.co.za or
silvia01@telkomsa.net
OR
PO Box 4168
Johannesburg 2000—South Africa
Phone: +(27) 11.982.1016/27 or +(27) 11.833.6748/9
Fax: +(27) 11.838.5073
This summary written by Kier Olsen
DeVries, consultant for The
Communication Initiative, April 2003.
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