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On a recent trip to southern Africa, UNAIDS
Prevention and Vulnerability Advisor, Aurorita
Mendoza attended a consultative meeting on the
Southern African Youth (SAY) on AIDS
initiatives. |
The focus of the visit was young people, who
account for half of all new adult
HIV-infections. Mendoza, who is responsible for
addressing the prevention needs of the
population groups hardest-hit by the HIV/AIDS
epidemic, spoke about the crippling impact of
the disease on youth, especially young girls,
and how prevention campaigns like SAY can make a
difference.
Adolescence is a critical age when
physiological, psychological and emotional
issues all contribute to vulnerability. Due to
heavy domestic burdens many young girls leave
school and therefore don’t receive the education
they need to protect themselves against
HIV/AIDS. Added to this, young girls in southern
Africa are often the targets of older
HIV-infected male partners. Economic dependency
also puts youth at risk, especially girls and
young women. Sex is often used as a way of
paying for education, clothes and food and in
many cases, for basic survival. There is a need
for youth programmes looking at income
generating activities that will empower
vulnerable youth economically and allow them to
opt out of sex work.
The UNFPA backed SAY is one of the largest funded
youth prevention projects in the world. It
encourages youth in the eight southern African
countries running SAY projects to find their own
roles in their respective countries. Mendoza
explained that amongst the many actors in the
HIV/AIDS arena, the SAY project appealed to
UNAIDS because of its strong orientation towards
gender issues, giving vulnerable populations
access to services and information, and
empowering the youth. “SAY doesn’t look at young
people as helpless and powerless, but tries to
make them more visible and equal. The second
difference is that SAY
is … part of the UN
vision for all the agencies to work together to
make an impact. We all know that agencies in the
UN have different directions, but with SAY we
have all come together around one programme, and
we are saying the same things and using the same
strategies.
So, hopefully, the UN's backing will
help to make things happen,” Mendoza explained.
After a week spent planning the way forward at a
consultative meeting with SAY stakeholders,
Mendoza expressed her hopes for the project’s
success, “SAY is trying to look at it from a new
angle. Economic solutions, gender-based
solutions and a political solution – these are
the keys we have. We hope that in one or two
years from now, these projects will be able to
make a difference to their constituents: the
young people affected by HIV/AIDS.” In closing
the UNAIDS advisor encouraged the media to play
a more positive role by featuring examples of
good interventions and initiatives, and placing
young
role models in the spotlight. |
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SAY projects focus on youth in southern Africa.
2003. WFP. |
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