It can often be hard to imagine a meeting where young people and leaders such as the Executive Director of the Global Fund, Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of UNICEF, Anthony Lake, and the South African government, Hendrietta Bogopane Zulu, Duputy Minister of Public Works, all in one room talking about youth leadership and accountability. Well, at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna—it’s not only possible, it happened!

At this session, youth leaders such as Ricardo Baruch from Mexico, Nikhi Gurung from Nepal, Nkonzo Khanyile from South Africa, and Stephanie Raper from Australia shared the gaps and recommendations to address all levels of youth leadership and structures in the response to HIV/AIDS pandemic. Within the Global Fund Board and Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs), we discussed the need for youth diversity and adequate representation. We discussed the need for involvement of youth in further processes managed by UNICEF including the Sexuality Education Guidelines developed. We also expressed our deep disappointment in the Minister of Health of South Africa who sent another policymaker in his unexcused absence of the panel to participate in this discussion.

Overall, young people educated these global leaders on the following that we need:

• Meaningful participation of young people in existing decision-making bodies;
• Investments in youth-led organizations to enable themselves with the capacity to drive their own programs; and,
• Given, that we are in Vienna, we need to make sure that all youth-led and focused- activities are integrated into the larger Main Conference program rather than a side-event that is meagerly accepted in the Global Village.

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For the first time in history of YouthForce, a coalition of youth-focused organizations that come together to organize, mobilize and prioritize youth at International AIDS Conferences (IAC), has finally placed HARM REDUCTION as a demand in our advocacy campaign. Given that the 2010 IAC is hosted this year in Eastern Europe, Vienna to be exact, the timing couldn’t have been more appropriate for harm reduction. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where the epidemic is largely driven by the growing number of young injection drug users, there are over one third of one million HIV-infected youth. Injection drug use accounts for 62 percent of new infections in the region.

As a part of the Vienna YouthForce campaign, we are demanding for the 3 HR's:

• Health Resources
• Human Rights
• Harm Reduction

At the Pre-Conference, a 3-day conference of issue and skills-based sessions led by youth and designed by youth, we hosted two sessions that were focused specifically on harm reduction. One of the sessions were presented by Allen Frimpong from Youth RISE and myself titled, "How Comprehensive is Comprehensive Sex Education...without Drug Education?" Good question, right? In this session, we discussed our own values about drug use and sexuality and how vulnerabilities to HIV can exacerbate when knowledge about drugs are limited while young people are making decisions about their sexual health. We also discussed case studies of programs that carried out different approaches of education on sex and drugs with varied levels of information and how limited knowledge and skills of either can make it difficult for young people to safeguard their health, especially for most marginalized young people like drug users, sex workers and LGBT people. All of us really challenged our own judgments about people who use drugs and, at the same time, came together with a positive response on how we talk about people who use drugs and the right to information that empower them to make their own choices of both sex and drugs while reducing their harm. 

I'm excited to see how the message of harm reduction will play out at the Main Conference, particularly one of our YouthForce posters that says:

"Society has made young people invisible. Young drug users, sex workers, and those who are most at risk of contracting HIV. Realize a world where there are HARM REDUCTION programs instead of hate, stigma and discrimination. Include young people in drafting and implementing the policies that affect them. Create programs that provide information, services, and supplies so that young people can protect their health and lives." "Now make it happen."

So, let's make harm reduction happen and push for this at the IAC!

Over a week ago, I visited Kampala, Uganda for a brief trip (four days to be exact) to attend the annual Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition meeting where members came together to discuss the challenges and actual solutions to increasing access to reproductive health supplies around the world.   This meeting is unique to any gathering I usually attend because it literally brings all stakeholders involved for a very specific discussion on reproductive health supplies.  This meeting included the private sector, governments (including our host, the government of Uganda), institutions working on systems strengthening like the Global Fund and UNFPA, and advocates like myself working to leverage political will and support for increased access. 

We discussed the many challenges that hinder both men and women's access to reproductive health supplies and services.  Stock-outs, limited contraceptive options, uncertainty in the arrival of supplies, oversupply in urban areas, undersupply in rural areas, lack of funding to provide the supplies and services… and the list goes on and on. 

There’s good news though: we have solutions!  The coalition has made a significant amount of progress to address many of these challenges.  In the past year, we have developed mechanisms to expedite procurement so that supplies are on the shelves when men and women need it; we’ve set up a database that potentially provides providers with accurate information on the status of their delivery; we’ve scaled-up advocacy efforts at all levels, from the district  level to the international level.

However, despite the technical language and overuse of acronyms in our discussions, the screening of a remarkable film (details soon!) reminded us that—at the end of the day--we’re talking about the lives of women and men and their right to plan their families, carry a safe pregnancy, and live healthy and productive lives. This film also reminded us that we can’t forget about the realities that individuals face every day because they don’t have the information and services to help them have a healthier future for themselves and their families.  

Okay, so what am I talking about?  The film, “Empty Handed: Responding to the Demand for Contraceptives,” an 8-minute film was funded by the coalition and launched at this meeting.  "Empty Handed" gives a real perspective on the current state of access to reproductive health supplies for women in Uganda.  This powerful film concisely told the story of what many women face in Uganda when they walk away empty-handed from a clinic that should have provide a variety of reproductive health supplies that can help them choose what's best for their lives and future--but fail to do so. 

This film inspired me to share the reality in Uganda with youth activists like you…so that you can also share this film with fellow youth activists, adult allies, policymakers, media and the private sector so that we can all come together to address these challenges that not only happen in Uganda—but unfortunately in so many other parts of the world.

I also work with youth activists through Advocates’ International Youth Speak Out project that are creating their own films to capture the stories of their peers to express the urgency of addressing young people’s sexual and reproductive health.   

In meetings like the one I attended in Kampala--the human voice often gets lost when we talk about statistics and technicalities…but we can change that.  

Share this film with your friends and spread the word! 

Check out the film here: http://216.146.209.72/Publications/Documentaries/empty-handed.shtml

After a week of discussions around issues of pleasure in sexuality to perceptions of masculinity to the decriminalization of same sex unions, all in the context of Africa, development, and human rights, you could only imagine how hard it could be to synthesize this all in one document. Well, the organizers were surely determined to do so as a tradition of the 4^th Africa, Sexual Health and Rights Conference, this time held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  A committee was coordinated upon selection of the organizers to synthesize major points from all the sessions of the training into a “Call to Action” moving forward to respective home countries as a framework to our work until 2011, in Cairo, where the 5^th conference has announced to be held.

Rather than one document, though, for this conference, there were three.  The first was expected and was, as scheduled, read aloud at the closing ceremony by a young person whom attended the Youth Sexuality Institute (YSI), a 2-day conference held prior to the Main Conference. As someone who was also at the YSI, I was really confused by how “polite” the document was written. I was disappointed to hear that the declaration did not carry the compelling, urgent, and motivating tone that came out of the YSI and that really insist on our leadership as essential of all aspects of sexual and reproductive health and rights.  Not to my surprise, the document was said to have gone to the “higher powers" for review and editing. Rumors said (adult) conference organizers had something to do with it :/

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On my exhausting 24-hour flight from Washington, D.C. to Addis Ababa, I thought about all the exciting opportunities surrounding the Africa, Sexual Health and Rights conference to take place, from February 9-12--beginning with the Youth Sexuality Institute on the 7th and 8th to the Youth Reception, hosted by Advocates for Youth and International Women's Health Coalition, where youth and invited African Union Ambassadors and policymakers discuss sexual and reproductive health and rights on the 11th. 

I’ll be honest. I was so jet lagged that I didn’t even realize I was really at the Conference on Africa, Sexual Health and Rights conference until I attended the Opening Ceremony this past Tuesday evening and heard Ethiopia’s Minister of Health, Dr. Tedros Adhanom spoke critically regarding the state of Africa in addressing sexual and reproductive health and rights. Dr. Tedros admitted to say that prevention efforts are slow and that we “need to promote positive messages about sexuality that are culturally-sensitive and meaningful, particularly among youth and young women.”

From my experience of attending conferences on HIV/AIDS, reproductive justice, gender and youth issues, in countries in or regarding Africa, you’ll usually hear a focus on epidemiology, particularly the statistics like HIV prevalence rates or how we need to keep young people from having sex because sex is bad.  Well, not this time.  Instead, the focus was on shifting the gender equity framework from women as recipients of programs to leaders of movements, and promoting what often does not get recognized such as the fact that we’re living in a world of two epidemics (not one) with a common sex denominator: HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality.

All of the honorary speakers of the opening ceremony emphasized the common values of

- Driving an integrated approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights;

- Transforming traditions, cultures, and religious beliefs that views sexuality as negative and taboo to a positive, healthy, and pleasurable part of life;

- Affirming the rights of sexual minorities and discussing the decriminalization of homosexuality;

- Raising the importance of the safe and legal right for women, particularly young women to access abortion.

There was more, of course, that was crunched into the two hours of this celebratory ceremony of unity and progress for Africa. Most importantly, though, it was clear that this conference was to discuss how to dissect the social constructs that inhibit the implementation of these important steps forward in the region's sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda.

As an Ethiopian-American, growing up in traditional, conservative values surrounding sex, I often unintentionally make the assumption that Ethiopians, particularly in my parent’s generation, have similar values, especially Dr. Tedros, one who was raised in a the region where my family resides. In his speech, he recognized the rights of vulnerable populations including migrant and mobile populations, sex workers, and sexual minorities.  I can’t lie and say that I was not surprised yet ecstatic to hear him say that…almost the same way as I would be surprised to hear my own father say the same.

The ceremony concluded with the President of Ethiopia, Mr. Girma Woldegiorgis, providing a short speech to welcome participants from all over the world to Ethiopia. What struck me the most was his strong position on abstinence-only programs and that they must stay out of Africa.

Many questions came to my mind, as I immediately reminded myself that there are several contradictory policies to addressing the challenges Dr. Tedros and Presidient Woldegiorgis mentioned. These are policies that inhibit our work to ensure reproductive and sexual health and rights of all Africans, and still remain in Ethiopia and in most (if not all) parts of Africa:

1) homosexuality is illegal, and often penalized from sentence to prison to even death;

2) sex work is illegal and punishable by law;

3) the Office Global AIDS Coordinator, essentially the head of U.S. global HIV/AIDS initiative, PEPFAR, still mandates a reporting requirement for countries to report prevention expenditures according to ABC funding streams, instead of comprehensive programs;

4) funding for reproductive health/family planning programs globally is still only a tiny, percent in comparison to HIVAIDS programs, even when we know maternal mortality is the leading cause of death among women ages 15-19 in low and middle-income countries;

For example, in 2008, the U.S. provided 3.6 billion in HIV/AIDS funding in focus countries v. 67.5 MILLion for RH/FP programs in focus countries); and,

5) access to safe abortion services is often limited only to women who face life-threatening conditions or rape.

So how are we going to enusre sexual minorities’ rights to comprehensive information and services in countries like Ethiopia, if homosexuality is illegal and can sentence you to up to 5 years in prison?

How can we prevent maternal mortality if fifteen-year olds are pregnant, demand to have an abortion but are unable to access legal and safe services?

My hope is that this conference recognizes the contradictory policies and negative constructs of society that prevent us from addressing the challenges that Dr. Tedros and President Woldegiorgis mentioned in their speech.

We can’t just simply discuss these issues, when there are laws and policies in direct opposition and hindrance of our work.  I’m looking forward to carrying out these discussions for the rest of the week, and I'd love to hear from you all!

Stay tuned on Amplify and you’ll be sure to read another blog from Mimi!

YOUR voice is an essential part of what makes the International Youth Activist Network a SUCCESS. Please submit your stories to share with other youth activists from around the world!  If you are one of the first 10 iYAN members to submit an essay that meets the criteria below, you will WIN a blue notebook with Advocates for Youth’s notebook and a pen (to write more essays, of course!).

*Please note that blogs you have posted on Amplify will not be considered as entries.*

If you are a youth activist from a low or middle-income country AND you are not yet an iYAN member, there's still time! Join now!

Just go to: www.advocatesforyouth.org/iYAN

Here is the criteria for you to submit an article for the newsletter:

- Articles should be no more than 500 words.

- Language should be simple and easy for non-native English speakers to read.

- If you have a photo, would like us to include it with your article, and can send it via email, please do!  It’s okay if you do not have a photo, but we would like to bring a face to your words when we have the chance.

- Advocates for Youth edits all published materials, so we will send you the revised draft for your approval before it is featured in the newsletter. We want to make sure that you are happy with the final product as well!

- When you submit an article, it may not appear right away in the next issue but we will be sure to include it in the next possible newsletter.

- Even if you’ve already submitted an article, you can still send others for upcoming issues of the newsletter.

- Issues that should be discussed from your experiences as a youth activist working on sexual and reproductive health issues. Topics on access to or lack of contraceptives, family planning, reproductive health, safe abortion services are strongly encouraged.

- You will receive an email by the next iYAN edition as to whether you are one of the first 10 to submit your article.

All entries should be submitted to mimi@advocatesforyouth.org. If you have questions on how to submit your article, please contact Mimi. 

Do it soon!! You could be one of the first 10!

 Excited yet exhausted. Optimistic yet anxious. Accomplished yet ambitious.

These are the emotions I was feeling around 7pm yesterday, after a long day of networking, attending events, and interviewing with press at Copenhagen. And, oh my gosh--by the way, sit down anywhere for FIVE MINUTES--and you will get interviewed by someone in the media!!!  Luckily, the perfect outlet for all these emotions approached me at about 7:01pm. 

The Global Gender and Climate Alliance hosted a breathtaking exhibit of indigenous women’s artistic expressions of how climate change impacts their communities.  The exhibit was followed by a theatric play that depicted how Global North and South communities address climate change differently in their communities, but at the same time, with global solidarity towards a healthier planet.  While this was the perfect opportunity for me to relax and decompress, I was also inspired by the forms of expression made between gender equity and climate change.

The message that most resonated with me was that:

Women are the most sustainable agents of change in their communities. 

The roles that we, as women, have played historically and presently, in whatever shape or form, have brought unity and strength to families and communities even despite the discrimination we, as women, have faced. 

This is why gender equity is so essential as a cross-sectoral approach to progress in our world today.  I also see gender equity as the best strategy to connect climate change and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) together as a massive moment for change!

Educating girls and boys, empowering women, meeting the demand for voluntary family planning, and ensuring access to comprehensive, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services not only play an important role in supporting human rights---but also in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Starting with the conversation of gender equity and human rights has helped me in my conversations with environmental activists to make the connection of SRHR to climate change. Some see it as a stretch—but, I think once you focus on gender equity (luckily to our advantage) as a pressing issue in environmental justice, there’s a common path to walk.

Climate change disproportionately affects women, especially young women, who are often the stewards of their area’s natural resources--as they must walk farther to collect water, work harder to produce crops from dry soil, and cope with drought, flooding, [other] natural disasters and disease. At the same time, empowered women can be particularly strong agents for sustainable change in their communities. I believe that an effective approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation must support young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), as doing so is essential for adaptation while contributing to reducing the impact of future climate change. 

Even the State of World Population 2009 report, that was just released by United Nations Population Fund this past month, argues that “the international community's fight against climate change is more likely to be successful if policies, programs and treaties take into account the needs, rights and potential of women.”

I must also emphasize, though, that if women, particularly young women, are not meaningfully involved in the decision-making processes of policies, programs and treaties that affect our own lives and the lives of our families--then the fight against climate change AND the support for SRHR will both fail. 

So, if you’re an SRHR activist like myself—interested in working with environmental activists in an even bigger movement--then take my advice!  Through my experience, I’ve learned to MAKE THE CONNECTION THROUGH GENDER EQUITY!

 

Yesterday was the 29th anniversary of John Lennon’s death.  You wouldn’t necessarily think there was a connection with the Copenhagen meeting on Climate Change, but when you’re working with activists—anything is possible.  YOUNGO—Youth NGOs—an official constituency of civil society represented here at Copenhagen—came together to sing the tunes of John Lenon’s song “Give Peace a Chance” in a BED-IN (yes, a bed-in), where youth collectively to sing:

“All we are saying is give youth a chance…All we are saying is cut greenhouse gas.” 

Given that the success of the meeting is framed in what governments will achieve by 2050, the common joke that young people have (internally) been saying about adults is:  

“How old will you be in 2050? Well, sorry to say this but you’ll probably be dead!” 

Of course, I can’t admit to enjoying this humor, BUT I can say that the action was amazing!! 

The group of young people at the BED-IN sung peacefully with the message that youth and adults need to work together as partners to address the challenges of climate change in a sustainable manner.  Clearly, young people are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate changing as the decisions of this meeting will affect us as we grow older.

As a youth activist myself, I’m always pushing dialogue for youth-adult partnerships in the design, implementation and evaluation of programs and policies regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights.  It’s a relief to know now that activists in other movements are also working for youth to have meaningful seats at the table in these important meetings.  Regardless of the issue—we need to be actively involved as valuable partners, so that we can determine and ensure the progress of the world for today and tomorrow!

So in memory of John Lennon—give youth a chance! J

Some may ask—why is Advocates for Youth at the UN meeting on climate change in Copenhagen?  

Advocates for Youth works to ensure young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) all over the world—how does that relate to climate change? Is there a connection? If so, what are the connections?

Well, I'm glad you asked! J  

There is growing evidence that addressing SRHR solutions can increase resilience to climate change, slow population growth trends that exacerbate poverty and climate change impacts, empower young people to exercise their rights and achieve a more just world. 

Climate change disproportionately affects women, especially young women, as they must walk farther to collect water, work harder to produce crops from dry soil, and cope with drought, flooding, [other] natural disasters and disease. An effective approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation must support young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, as doing so is essential for adaptation and can contribute to reducing the impact of future climate change.

So, I’m here at Copenhagen on the second (final) day of the Youth Conference networking with youth activists working on climate change solutions and talking about how sexual and reproductive health rights fits into the environmental discussion.  Sounds difficult, I know--but really the solution is what we’ve been demanding in our own SRHR movement for years!

Educating girls and boys, empowering women, meeting the demand for voluntary family planning, and ensuring access to comprehensive, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services not only play an important role in climate change mitigation and adaptation—but are also human rights.

While I’m in Copenhagen, I’ll be representing a coalition of youth-led and youth-serving SRHR organizations that support the mission: “Youth Support SRHR for a Just and Sustainable World”.  We’re now in the process of finalizing a declaration that articulates these SRHR-climate connections and what we demand from governments to best address all of them for a just and sustainable world! We're also printing t-shirts with the message in pink and green to push the slogan, "Healthy Families, Healthy Planet"

Basically, this is a blog to set the stage that I'm here to build bridges between the SRHR movement, the youth movements, women's rights movement, the climate justice movements...and to build bridges with you to make your voice heard by working together to leverage policies that favor reproductive and sexual health rights for young people. 

If you know youth activists attending Copenhagen and interested in these SRHR-climate connections, EMAIL ME!  

If want to ask questions and comments about these SRHR-climate justice connections, EMAIL ME!

If you want to access the “Youth Support SRHR for a Just and Sustainable World” Declaration, I can send it to you and....

 If you want to know how you can get more involved in Copenhagen from where you are—EMAIL ME!

I’m here in Copenhagen and I can leverage your voice here! We can also leverage our voice together to build awareness and mobilize on these connections in your communities.

 My email address is: mimi@advocatesforyouth.org. 

Talk to you soon!
Hugs from Copenhagen! J

 

 

 On December 2^nd, I attended an Education Symposium in Berlin, Germany hosted by UNAIDS on “How to get the message across – The education sector’s response to the challenge of HIV prevention among most-at-risk youth.”  The meeting gathered leaders in UN agencies, civil society, and (marginally) youth to attend the day-long symposium to address challenges and opportunities in reducing the vulnerability of young people to HIV and particularly most-at-risk (MAR) populations within youth that included gay, lesbian, transgender, and queer (GLBTQ) youth particularly young men who have sex with men (MSM), young people who use drugs, and young female sex workers (FSW). 

 

The dialogue was very exciting, because the conversation started at the foundation of:

 

• whom we are talking about when say MAR youth;
• what are the challenges MAR youth face;
• who are we targeting to address these  challenges; and,
• what political recommendations we demand to most effectively and sensitively respond to the HIV epidemic among youth.

 

Although there were only a handful of young people at the meeting of the 68 participants registered, I have to say that the 15-minute session (yes, I’m typing correctly--only 15 minutes out of a whole day where young people could discuss their OWN issues) was by far, the most concise, honest, and most compelling session of the day. 

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Last year on WAD, I was standing in front of the White House, amongst hundreds of activists united to advocate for the Bush Administration to "Cut the Red Tape"—by eliminating the earmark to implement abstinence-only, ideologically-based programs that censor youth's access to information about condoms and other ways to reduce to reduce risk of HIV infection. 

 

Despite the fact that mainstream media has portrayed Bush as a champion on HIV and AIDS, civil society recognizes the reality that PEPFAR has failed young people on prevention.  Now, at a time when the President Barrack Obama has been elected to take on leadership in the U.S., the tide of the HIV/AIDS movement is changing and there is hope that domestic and international policies will meet the needs of reproductive and sexual health among youth through evidence-based, comprehensive sex education that will provide youth the skills and knowledge to make responsible choices about their lives.

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