by Nicole Cheetham, Director, International Division

A few weeks ago Advocates received a request from its partner organization in Jamaica, the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN), to submit a statement for inclusion in their first annual report.  While this may not seem particularly noteworthy at first glance, it is in fact, a cause for celebration.  Why, you may ask?  Well, because the JYAN is publishing its very first organizational annual report---a milestone of sorts, you could say, in the world of organizational development. 

When Advocates first came into contact with JYAN, we got to know some of the members---dedicated, passionate youth activists who were volunteering their time to advocate for youth reproductive and sexual health and rights issues in Jamaica.  JYAN’s work grew out of an initiative of the Jamaica's Solution to Youth Lifestyle and Empowerment Project (JA-STYLE), in which Advocates served as a partner organization. 

Through JA-STYLE, Advocates worked with the project partners and the founding members of the JYAN to share information and tools on youth-led advocacy for sexual and reproductive health and rights in order to build a cadre of effective youth advocates.  Advocates had the privilege of including some of the members of the network into Advocates’ International Youth Leadership Council (IYLC), a group of youth activists that works to advocate for international youth reproductive and sexual health policies here in the U.S.   As members of the IYLC, several JYAN members came to Washington, DC, and educated members of Congress on international family planning and U.S. Global AIDS policy.  They also advocated and presented at national and international meetings, such as the 2006 United Nations High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, the One Voice Summit in Washington DC, the Women Deliver Conference in London, and the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. 

Although the JA-STYLE Project concluded in 2008, we’re fortunate that our collaboration with the JYAN has continued.  We are pleased to be working with the JYAN on the International Youth Speak Out Project.  As part of this project, the JYAN has established its own national youth council, modeled off of the International Youth Leadership Council, entitled Safely Tackling Adolescent Reproductive Health (J-STAR).  They are advocating for improved youth sexual and reproductive health policy and implementation, with a focus on securing a budgetary allocation and spending specific to youth-specific reproductive and sexual health programs within the national budget; institutionalizing youth participation in policy decision-making processes; and holding governments accountable to the implementation of the Family Life Health Education (FLHE) program across Jamaica, which provides comprehensive sex education to secondary school students.

Since 2005, through the dedication and continuous efforts of its members, the JYAN has steadily moved from being an initiative of the JA-STYLE project to becoming its own, registered, fully-independent, youth-led, non-profit organization in 2008. In so doing, JYAN members have proven to Jamaica and others around the world that young people have the power, the ability and the knowledge to succeed and to make young people’s voices heard.  So, congratulations JYAN, on your many achievements, including this latest milestone of releasing your first organizational annual report.