The 16th International conference on AIDS and STI’s in Africa ICASA 2011, jointly organized by the government of Ethiopia in conjunction with the society for AIDS in Africa and various institutional and community partners as well private sector, brought together over ten thousand delegates from around the world who from the 4th -8th December put their heads together, bringing to the table, their experiences, good practices and looked for a way forward, 30 years into the fight against the AIDS pandemic.

As per the tradition of ICASA, this year’s conference was divided broadly into three areas of focus, which included the scientific, Non-abstract driven sessions and the community programs. Themed around Own, Scale-up and sustain, the conference chair Dr.YigeremuAbebe from Ethiopia explained the conference was so designed to ensure international standards with excellent submissions from what the world is doing to respond to HIV in Africa. Also the choice of speakers and various facilitators also a reflected the organizer’s resolve to ensure high level of interaction during the conference.

This conference however started with a youth Pre-conference which was in a bid to better prepare young people for the main conference. It was hosted by Talent Youth Association (TAYA- Ethiopia) 1-3 December 2011 in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, at the Ghion hotel. This Pre meeting had over 250 delegates with over 80 of them from Ethiopia. The official opening was done by H.E AlemawMengistu, State Minister for the Ministry of Women and children and Youth affairs who called on young people to get involved in the ICASA proper and ensure that their voices are heard. Also present was Dr. YigeremuAbebe from the Clinton foundation who called on all African people to take ownership of the issues, be accountable and responsible for the response.

It is worth noting that the theme for this pre-conference was accountability and the breakout sessions were structured to achieve these goals. The pre-conference -ended with a declaration and call to action from the young people on sexual reproductive health and rights to be channeled to the main conference and this call to action highlighted amongst many other things the need to include young people more in the HIV/AIDS response process, getting the governments to commit, or better still be accountable for the money they receive for HIV/AIDS funding, and to proportionately distribute the funds to all the target populations not prioritizing one over the other. Also there was a call for the inclusion of young people living with HIV/AIDS and also children born with HIV in the whole response process and improve the quality of Youth friendly centers to better accommodate young people and also include them as staffed officials in such centers and also accommodate for the heterogeneity of their sexualities.

The conference proper that began on the 4th of December saw especially the rare presence of two former US presidents (Bill Clinton and George W. Bush) at the opening ceremony which was very contrary to public opinion as they asked why no single former African president or even the current ones were not invited, also asking ‘’why they were mourning more than the bereaved’’

This year’s ICASA had about 407 presentations which were covered in 150 plenary, parallel skill building and Non-abstract driven sessions and an additional 59 oral presentations, bringing the number to a total of 466 presentations. These abstracts and presentations covered and provided information on current research around the continent and best practices upheld by the different stake holders.

The uniqueness of this year’s ICASA is that it provided awards to the best abstracts presented by young investigators below the age of 35.this recognition was in a bid to encourage scientific research in Africa which is facing challenges at the moment and it is hoped that by so doing, many will be motivated to take upon themselves to further research on the Pandemic and possibly find a cure in the nearest future. It is now just rhetoric to repeat the fact that Africa is the most affected, especially Sub-Saharan Africa By this Pandemic.

Aside the sessions and very formal side of ICASA is the community village. It comprises of highly creative and focused programs ranging from the youth Pavilion to the community dialogue spaces. There is plenty here to digest as it shares plenty of best practices in Africa and most young people for ICASA hang out here since it gives them a unique opportunity of learning while having fun. The place is animated by an array of culturaldances ,performances and presentations from youth networks and other networks, distribution of condoms and t-shirts and other didactic materials which can be helpful in sensitization and general networking amongst ICASA participants.

This year’s ICASA registered a huge success all together as it brought together disabled persons, people living with HIV/AIDS, LGBTQI’s(Lesbian gays, bisexuals transgender, queer and intersex) who in one way or the other are contributing to the fight against HIV/AIDS all networking together.

The major outcome and the most applauded is that African leaders committed to engage in strategies that will ensure home grown responses to the AIDS pandemic, given the fact that at this crucial time of worldwide economic recession, they need to own , scale-up and sustain.
Overall, it is widely accepted that ICASA 2011 pointed the way forward to accomplishing the common vision of ‘zero new infections, zero discrimination, and Zero AIDS related deaths in Africa."

The major shortcoming from a personal point of view is that, too much money is spent organizing a meeting like ICASA.Sad to say but some people are getting enriched by the havoc this pandemic is causing. The resources allocated, from the printing of badges, conference papers,accommodation and other logistics was money that could have been channeled otherwise for better use maybe for some research or that remote place in the world where there is little or no response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
My recommendation will be to have fewer people attend the ICASA 2012 in South Africa and we should not make it a profit making forum with the commercialization that has engulfed the organization and running of ICASA.

Also as activist in the fight against HIV/AIDS it is very recommendable that we adopt healthy sexual practices as I could not help but notice some unscrupulous interactions amongst delegates especially the young people.

In conclusion I will like to thank the African Union and especially the Youth Division Headed By Dr. Raymonde Agoussou Advocates For Youth and UNFPA for giving me this unique learning opportunity to participate at ICASA and also to report via blogging on amplify/AU-YVC facebook pages for the duration of the conference.

By Abongwa Victor
International Youth Journalist
Cameroon.

The University of Buea, in the South West region of Cameroon, is the lone Anglo-Saxon University in Cameroon, and has a reputation for academic achievements that other State Universities in the country only dream of, a reputation so good that t is recognized also at the internationally level given the fact that graduates from the said University always distinguish themselves when given a chance to study in other Universities abroad, hence proving the good foundation they have from the start. It is therefore no surprise that the Logo of the said University reads “THE PLACE TO BE”

It comes as no surprise too that when the General Certificate of Examinations(GCE) Advanced Level are released qualifying successful candidates for University studies, when one asks applicants what their choices are, especially those from English speaking regions of Cameroon, they do not hesitate to say UB (University Of Buea). One can see how excited the freshmen and women are as they line up to fulfill registration requirements, filling of form B’s , medical examination, and finally the freshmen Orientation before lectures commence effectively and while they are doing this there are other hidden agendas.

Usually the new comers have little or no experience living on their own, since a majority of them come from either their parent’s homes or from boarding schools. In this new land there is a lot to explore and take advantage of, first of which is the freedom to do whatever one likes (besides there are no parents or teachers no boarding masters to stop them). Secondly, those from single sex schools especially are very excited to see and mix with the opposite sex, and sooner or later, new relationships are established, which as it goes will last only but a few months.

The predecessors of this University called this mad rush for matchmaking and belonging to a relationship the “October rush” At this time, love is in the air, if one hasn’t got a boyfriend or girl friend, he or she is considered a social misfit.

Now, here is the Irony about this October rush; while the new comers especially females are getting new boyfriends(second-last year students) older girls(of the same level) are losing their boyfriends, and freshmen who had relationships from high school are losing their high school lovers to the older more experienced boys, who take these girls to fancy places, night clubs, the beach,(things the younger boys will only get to know about in their second year or later that same year) which to the girls is living life to the fullest. After a few dates, these boys have done enough courting and the next step is sex. After a few weeks with the said fresh woman, they move on to the next and yet another depending on how well one can play his game. Some even court as many as three at the same time.

By December, a majority of the fresh women’s hearts have been broken, most of them would have been disvirgined, quite a good number would have come in contact with their first Sexually Transmissible Infections (STI’s) and some would even have HIV while some will be three months pregnant and daring ones would have had their first abortion, usually done with the help of quack doctors or other unorthodox means leading to further complications and sometimes even death. In January, these guys hook up with their older girlfriends and wait for the next October rush. One can hear the fresh men and women speaking against the LOGO saying, “The Place To Be When You Are Not There!”

I blame this misfortune that befalls freshmen and women every year on the school administration, reason being they fail to recognize the need to include in their orientation sessions the social aspect of the academic environment which includes these young adults responding to their hormonal calls, being in relationships and having sex. What I would advice is for such orientation sessions to take into consideration the above mentioned aspects and also for the university to include in its curriculum comprehensive sexuality education for everyone especially the freshmen and if this is done, it will go a long way to curb the increased rate of STI’s, HIV and unwanted pregnancies that occur due to the lack of such information and orientation.

By Abongwa Victor.
International Youth journalist
Cameroon.

A few months ago, I met with Alesi Jacquelyne, now Mrs MugenyI, the program coordinator for Caravan Youth in Uganda which is a youth led initiative to assist young people living with HIV in attending Addis Ababa. She shared with me her experiences, living positively with HIV, and how she was managing her relationship with her fiancé and i had an interview with her and her story was amongst  the "must read" stories on Amplify that month (April 2011).

Today when I met her again at ICASA, I was introduced to this gentleman who was smiling and beaming as her husband. It gave me much joy to see her so happy and having her husband support her this much. I managed to get them on this video and they share in it how they live as a discordant couple(a couple with one person being HIV positive and the other HIV negative)they also tell us, the challenges, and their success they have acheived this far.. 

This video tells that story.



By Abongwa Victor
International  Youth Journalist
Cameroon.

At the International Conference of AIDS and STIs in Africa, taking place in Addis Aabab Ethiopia from the 4-8th of December 2011, People with disabilities express their dissatisfaction at ICASA, organization and cry out for the need to be included in the whole process. “ Our non-inclusion in the whole process reflects even at a higher level as programs are not adapted to suit the specific needs of people with disabilty and the many myths surrounding having sex with disabled persons has left untold misery on us'' says Constance Hamb, walula, Executive Director of the Zambian National association of persons with disabilities (ZNAPD).

Check out the video:



By Abongwa Victor
International Youth Journalist
Cameroon

In a bid to call stake holders, funders and other parties involved in the response to HIV/AIDS in Africa who will be attending the International Conference on AIDS and STI’S in Africa, conference proper , some young people had the uphill task of coming up with a declaration which was going to summarize the outcomes of the pre-conference and a call to action to the governments and stake holders to renew their commitments and take concrete steps towards the response to HIV/AIDS in the continent. I was amongst these young people and what follows this introductory paragraph is what we came up with and when this work was concluded, we had had a press conference wherein we discussed the contents of this declaration.

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The 16th International conference on AIDS and STI’s in Africa ICASA 2011, jointly organized by the government of Ethiopia in conjunction with the society for AIDS in Africa (SAA) and various institutional and community partners as well as private sector, brings together over ten thousand delegates from around the world who in the course of the next few days will put their heads together, bringing to the table, their experiences, good practices and look for a way forward, 30 years into the fight against the AIDS pandemic.

As per the tradition of ICASA, this year’s conference has been divided broadly into three areas of focus, which include the scientific, Non-abstract driven sessions and the community programs. Themed around Own, Scale-up and sustain, the conference chair Dr.Yigeremu Abebe from Ethiopia explains the conference has been developed to ensure international standards with excellent submissions from what the world is doing to respond to HIV in Africa. Also the choice of speakers and various facilitators is also a reflection of the organizer’s resolve to ensure high level of interaction during the conference.

As I go through the Abstract book, I can’t help but to plead the Devil’s advocate to ask if it is feasible that in five days 407 presentations will be adequately covered in 150 plenary, parallel skill building and Non-abstract driven sessions talk less of the additional 59 oral presentations, bringing the number to a total of 466 presentations? Well we are left to find out. The good thing however about the abstracts and presentations is that they are expected to cover and will provide information on current research around the continent.
The uniqueness of this year’s ICASA is that it will provide awards to the best abstracts presented by young investigators below the age of 35.thsi recognition is in a bid to encourage scientific research in Africa which is facing challenges at the moment and it is hoped that by so doing, many will be motivated to take upon themselves to further research on the Pandemic and possible find a cure in the nearest future. It is worth noting that Africa is the most affected, especially Sub-Saharan Africa.

So here I am, at the millennium hall conference centre where the ICASA is being held, completely lost, and everyone is so busy going up and down as if on Broadway. I try really hard to figure out where I want to go…and what strikes me the most to visit is the community village. It comprises of highly creative and focused programs ranging from the youth Pavilion to the community dialogue spaces. There is plenty here for me to digest as it shares plenty of best practices in Africa.

So I visit from stand to stand, ranging from organizations working with the handicapped in the response to HIV/AIDS pandemic, those working with out of school youths, commercial sex workers, young people born with and living with HIV(YPLHIH) those working with young people and children orphaned by HIV, and others with girls that are victims of female genital mutilation and victims of rape and others more specifically on developing and advancing research in antiretroviral drugs .

It is a very rich blend of ideas and best practices and can’t help but to be absorbed in all of this. Did I mention there is also the people living with HIV (PLWHIV) and also that of Lesbian gay bisexual transgender, queer and intersex lounge? Provided in a bid for them to network and support each other.

Last but not least there is a rich display of the Ethiopian culture in the form of arts and craft many of which are from organizations that support PLWHIV, and of course there is warm tea to heat people up as Addis is particularly cold at this time of the year.

I make my way through one or two parallel sessions and I am quite impressed with what is going on, but what strikes me the most is the official opening ceremony which saw the presence of several dignitaries and one of the least expected…George W . Bush former president of the United States of America.

This ICASA is unique and we are hoping by the end of it, someone maybe from the Scientific area will tell us a ground breaking discovery that will alleviate the plight this Pandemic has caused since the first cases were discovered some 30 years ago. By the time the day officially closed, I was no longer MIA, at least I now know my way around and hopefully day two will be a better day. Stay tuned!

By Abongwa Victor
International Youth Journalist
Cameroon.

On the second day of the International conference on STI’s and AIDS (ICASA ) Pre- conference December 2nd in Addis Ababa- Ethiopia, hosted by talent youth association TAYA, which is in a bid to prepare youths to have a head start as per the expectations of ICASA, young people attending have already familiarized themselves with the environment and people can now talk more freely, perhaps the reason why the session on Inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex(LGBTQI) Youth in HIV and Sesual reproductive Health and rights (SRHR() interventions is kept to be dealt with on this day.
The session is facilitated by Steve Letsike working with “OUT”, South Africa which is an organization dedicated to the promotion of the rights of LGBTQI’s and giving them the specific health services they require in an enabling environment. She begins the session with the projection of a good practice video which showed the evolution of demands for equal rights by the gay community of Pretoria and the subsequent evolution to the point when LGBTQI’S are legally recognized and can officialize their marriages in both churches and family affairs centers. See www.M2M.com and www.W2W.com for more on this organization.

I came to the realization that most people who have been working in the field of SRHR and even sexual diversities did not really understand some basic terminologies even down to the definitions of LGBTQI’s. So for the benefit of doubt, I will give the most basic of these definitions but for more clarity you can always check out the above mentioned websites. For the purpose and length of this article LGBTQI’S will be defined as:

L-Lesbian is a woman who has emotional, sexual, intellectual and romantic attraction towards another woman.
G-Gay is a man who shares emotional, sexual, intellectual and romantic attraction towards a man.
B-Bisexual is a man or woman who shares emotional, sexual, intellectual and romantic attraction towards both men and women.
T-Transgender is a man or woman who identifies differently from the gender assigned to She/he.
I-Intersex is someone who has an indeterminate sexual organ and needs a decision to be made.
Q-Queer is someone who is flexible and will rather not be labeled as either gay, lesbian, bisexual, or any such labels and lives his sexuality as she/he pleases.
The discussion focused around three basic questions.
1. How do we use our expertise where we come from to further integrate LGBTIQ’s?
2. What is your role in addressing this issue?
3. What are the resources required to better meet the needs of these people.
In Response to these questions, after much deliberation, participants came up with the following ideas.
For question one, the responses were as follows;

• Integration of LGBTQI issues in national and strategic health plans first by understanding the dynamics around LGBTQI issues.
• Conducting ample research to provide concrete statistics with which governments can be held to commit on the basis of the realities these statistics present. for example there are over 1 million known LGBTQI’s in Africa and 40% of them are HIV positive, this kind of information therefore will be very useful when pressure is mounted on governments to enable such people access health facilities without being discriminated upon on the basis of their sexual identities.
• Training of health practitioners and revising the develop manuals to enable them provide services meet the needs and aspirations of LGBTQIs
• Advocacy for their rights using other unexplored venues like new media.
• Engaging with policy makers.
• Revising awareness of the needs of these people and advocating for them to be met.

For the second question, the responses were as follows.

• Discourage discrimination and change existing attitudes
• Raise awareness of the rights and also responsibilities of these people through a human rights based approach for example International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Sexual rights declaration handbook made in conjunction with the United Nations(UN) Universal Human Rights declaration.
• Values clarification
• Identifying key entry points and gate keepers (parliamentarians) working with those who are understanding to push the change at a higher level (PARLIAMENT)

As regards the last question, ideas gathered were;

• Creation of youth friendly and drop in centers for LGBTQIs
• Provision of commodities and resources which meet their specific needs and aspirations(lubricants, condoms suited for anal sex etc)
• Policy documents
• Finally removing punitive laws on LGBTQIs.

I will like to conclude this blog by mentioning that even though Ethiopia is host to the ICASA conference, with the ministry of health directly involved, things have not been made particularly easy for the LGBTQI community that will be attending this event. The public opinion is that ICASA is a gay conference and most people are bent on making the process a failure as much as they can. People are particularly skeptical about giving out the joints or meeting places out for fear of being condemned they are promoting gay activities and even the Pre-conference cocktail party was cancelled because the owner of the place declined giving it out when she found out those hiring it were for the ICASA program and a meeting of LGBTQI s in one of tthe hotels was cancelled on the same premise!

By Abongwa Victor
International Youth Journalist
Cameroon.

The international conference on AIDS and STI’s in Africa ( ICASA), the long awaited and must attend international conference will bring together youth activists, health practitioners, government representatives, stake holders and every other person engaged in the fight against . To better prepare young people for the main conference, a Pre-conference for young people, hosted by Talent Youth Association (TAYA- Ethiopia) 1-3 December 2011 in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, kicked off December 1st at the Ghion hotel. This Pre meeting has over 250 delegates with over 80 of them from Ethiopia. The official opening was done by H.E Alemaw Mengistu, State Minister for the Ministry of Women and children and Youth affairs who called on young people to get involved in the ICASA proper and ensure that their voices are heard. Also present was Dr. Yigeremu Abebe from the Clinton foundation who called on all African people to take ownership of the issues, be accountable and responsible for the response.

Next stop we heard from Dr. Ademola Olajide who echoed Dr. Abebe’s view on accountability but urging young people on their part to lead the way. He said “we need to make the change we need and need to do it now” and to make that changeso, Dr. Akinyele Dairo on his part highlighted that UNFPA was particularly committed to young people and applauded UNFPA and other partners in their response which has yielded some results in terms of reduction in new infections. He said however that the target is the Zero infection point and to reach this young people must either Abstain from Sex completely until they are married and while they are stay faithful to their partners or CONDOMIZE! .The country representative for UNFPA Ted Chabien reiteritated the need for young people to be visible at the ICASA proper , taking the lead, facilitating sessions and making presentations.

Last but not the least speaker in the opening ceremony was Paddy Masembe from Africa Young Positives Association who bore witness to the challenges young people living with HIV/AIDS are facing on a day to day basis which included amongst others stigmatization and discrimination, lack of access to adequate health facilities and programs designed to meet the specific needs of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHIV) especially Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) living with HIV.

It is worth noting that the theme for this pre-conference is Accountability and the breakout sessions are structured to achieve these goals. I have taken the liberty of summarizing some of the sessions that held on this first day (DECEMBER 1st)that way my readers can get a idea of what went on.

The first session which focused on empowering young people for HIV prevention-challenges and opportunities done by Rick Olson from (UNICEF) explained that there are challenges in the effort to getting to the zero new infection target ,stating that there is increased teenage pregnancy and more young girls and women are getting HIV. He highlighted that this is coming mostly from the lack of information, condom use although increasing, figures still show young people disconnect between young people knowing where to get and actually use them and Voluntary counseling and testing in youth friendly centers, asking how friendly they really are. He made a call to young people to get involved in more condom programming particularly accountability and acceptability.

The other session I found particular interest in was that which focused on reaching unmet needs of sexual reproductive health and rights services of young people living with HIV.(YPLHIV). The speaker called for the status of children born with HIV to be normalized by society. He said so because current family planning does not target YPLHIV, including lack of information on contraception. He stated that YPLHIV needed more support in education and from stigma and discrimination meted upon them for a fault which is not theirs and that they are merely victims of circumstances. He concluded with a call for more work on advocacy, more access to Anti retroviral treatment (ART) more research on 15-19 year olds to be conducted and for the budget to be distributed more fairly amongst the different age groups.
Other sessions included documenting experiences, challenges and new approaches in the fight against HIV/AIDS amongst young people, another was the challenge of Youth in HIV/AIDS prevention policies, programs and fundraising.

Last but not the least was the session on Open societies and rights of PESSP (Gays and Lesbians) and sex workers and the speaker bore witness to the discrimination and stigma that sex workers suffer. The main issues highlighted were male and transgender sex workers and saw the need of services to sensitize thee sex worker and also for society and governments to treat them and their families equally. There was equally a call for support for rape victims especially male rape victims who are usually victimized more afterwards.

By Abongwa Victor
International Youth Journalist
Cameroon.

   Have you ever witnessed how frustrating it is when you know that a promise that is being made to you in apparent sincerity will never come to pass? Can you come to terms with how disappointing it is to realize that those words uttered to you that you thought were words of hope and what you could cling to were just propaganda aimed at acheiving some selfish goals? Well if you are a young person like me especially from the less developed countries then you can empathize with me when I say I have had enough of all the promises made by stake holders, governments and policy makers on issues concerning young people. All their promises now sound like cacophonies (a combination of loud noises) because it is only talk and more talk and no concrete action to match their words.

    Is it not just horrible that every single month, there is at least one youth conference is some part of the world where young people are rallied, paid plane tickets and per diems, given accommodation to do what? Write yet another declaration which in a matter of weeks will be gathering dust in the shelves of some office with none of what was decided in the said declaration being implemented?

    Is it not a shame that over and over again we have heard, this time we will do a follow up of activities and work with you to make sure that the decisions arrived at this summit or training or meeting are fully implemented at National, Regional and even Continental levels? But then how long do such promises last? I am led to believe that stake holders are rather competing amongst themselves to see who can organize the best youth conference and not who can implement the decisions arrived at such youth conferences. If that is not the case, what is the point hearing a call for application for two conferences on the same theme in the same month that afterwards nothing will be done?

Right now I am so tired of going to conferences, saying the same thing over and over again when I know the minute I leave all what I said will be forgotten. I am tired of reading this or that year is the international year of the youth- So what? They can organize more conferences for young people to attend and then what next? I am fed up seeing how the plight of young people is being selfishly used by individuals to enrich themselves , defending budgets that are to be used to carry out activities targeting young people which only end up in private bank accounts, construction of mansions and purchase of posh cars while young people languishing in their plight.

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Young people, especially those from Africa, have often been described as observers who sit back and expect things to be done for them, not willing to take initiative and do things for themselves. For others who hold the same view, innovation is a far-fetched venture and unattainable  for them. Well if you shared a similar view, then meet Kariuki from Kenya, a young man who has made those who made these claims revisit their stance. He is an innovator and entrepreneur. He is a business man or rather a “business boy” as some call him but regardless of the title attributed to him, he has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the African young person can bring about change in his community, Africa, and in the world at large.

He has turned down offers to work with Google, and other dream corporations other young people would run to if an offer was made. He is self-employed and yet he addressed all the Heads of State in the just-ended AU summit In Malabo, showing them just why other African should be empowered -- for there are a good number of young people just like him who with the right resources would move mountains. Today Karuiki has inspired thousands of African young people even me, to believe in myself and whatever i do.

He shares his experience in this video:



By Abongwa Victor
International Youth Journalist
Cameroon.