Monday, March 26, 2012

Contact: Rachel Cooke - 202.419.3420 x45

First-of-Its-Kind Analysis of PEPFAR's Youth Policies

In a newly-released report, Advocates for Youth examines the youth HIV prevention policies being implemented by the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) and outlines a series of policy recommendations to help the agency and other policymakers make improvements. This first-of-its-kind, in-depth analysis assesses youth policies within the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), including its legislative authority, its most recent five-year strategy, relevant guidance documents, and all twenty-one PEPFAR country Partnership Frameworks currently available.

At a time when young people ages 15-24 account for four in ten new HIV infections among adults, this in-depth review finds that PEPFAR has made some important progress towards advancing young people's sexual and reproductive health, but there is still a long way to go. PEPFAR's currently policy environment continues to be characterized by a siloed, segmented approach to prevention that fails to address the holistic needs of youth or to engage young people themselves as partners in prevention. Advocates looked at nine youth-focused policy indicators such as requirements for comprehensive sexual health education; emphasis on the meaningful inclusion of youth in the development of policies and programs; and clear recommendations for the compilation and reporting of age-disaggregated data.

"We simply cannot allow the fear of political controversy," said Advocates for Youth {resident Debra Hauser, "or societal unease with talking about adolescent sexual behavior to undermine the health and rights of youth living in the global south. All young people have the right to the education and information they need to protect their health and save their lives. To do anything less is unethical."

Advocates' report concludes with a set of recommendations for the U.S. Congress, OGAC, and Partner Country governments, to design and implement the bold policy needed to support youth sexual and reproductive health and rights. Recommendations include promotion of comprehensive sexual health education and youth-friendly, integrated, HIV and family planning services, among others.

Timing could not be better for the report's findings. In July the U.S. will host the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C. Advocates for Youth urges the U.S. government, as the global leader on HIV, to seize this opportunity to create a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy for young people in the U.S. and abroad. The ultimate challenge we face with this epidemic is not money or technology — it's leadership. And the time to exercise it is now.

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For the full report: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/pepfar