Young leaders driving change in the response to HIV

December 1, 2011

By Helen Henderson, AYAD with UNFPA in Bangkok

Every year on 1 December, people around the world get involved in advocacy and fundraising events for World AIDS Day, including wearing the symbolic red ribbon.  The red ribbon is an expression of awareness, compassion and support for people living with HIV, the colour red symbolising passion and love.  It is a globally-recognised symbol that this year celebrates its 20th anniversary of being first worn in public.  For some dedicated and hardworking young people, these red ribbons are worn every day of the year - at least metaphorically. 

YouthLEAD (Youth Leadership, Education, Advocacy and Development Project) is a growing network of young people from the Asia-Pacific region who are leading positive change in the response to HIV.  What makes this group especially unique as a network is not just their age (young people aged 15 – 24yrs), but their focus on working and engaging with young key affected populations, often known as ‘YKAPs’.  In this context, YKAPs include young people involved in transactional sex; young men who have sex with men; young transgender persons, young people who inject drugs; and young people living with HIV.

Across the Asia-Pacific region, an estimated 500,000 young people aged 15-24 are currently living with HIV . While the overall prevalence in most countries is low, the epidemic is highly concentrated in YKAPs.   Recent data from the Global Commission on AIDS in Asia indicated that in the region, 95% of all new infections in young people are among YKAPs, even though this group make up only 5% of the youth population.

Increased efforts have been made in recent years to expand prevention, treatment and care services to key affected populations, but addressing the specific needs of YKAPs, and overcoming their particular barriers to services, has remained a challenge. It is important to develop leadership within YKAP communities to help drive their meaningful participation in the HIV response.  This is where YouthLEAD steps in.

While interning at the Seven Sisters (the Coalition of Asia Pacific Regional networks on HIV/AIDS), Thaw Zin Aye and Skand Amatya noticed a distinct lack of capacity in YKAP communities to meaningfully participate and advocate for change at HIV events. With the aim to develop leadership among YKAPS and improve young people’s involvement in community, national and regional programming processes in the HIV response, Thaw and Skand pushed hard to get YouthLEAD started.  

Under the umbrella of the Seven Sisters, and with support from UNFPA, UNICEF, UNAIDS and UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Offices, YouthLEAD was formally initiated in 2010.  Core funding and technical support is provided by the UN agencies, often in the form of Australian Youth Ambassadors for development (AYADs). The AYAD program is an AusAID-funded initiative that gives skilled young Australians the opportunity to volunteer and contribute to programs overseas such as YouthLEAD.

AYAD Sally Beadle (from UNICEF) has helped YouthLEAD develop one exciting new project, the ‘New Generation Asia Leadership initiative’. This initiative is a five-day participatory short course designed to build the capacity of emerging young leaders in the global HIV response. Trialled at the 10th meeting of the International Congress on AIDS in Asia-Pacific (ICAAP10) in August, with 40 young people representing 12 countries from the region, the course was then successfully piloted in the Philippines in November with 34 young people from YKAP communities. These 34 young people developed leadership skills and cemented friendships to ensure the voices of YKAP will be heard now and in the future.

There is now rising demand for YouthLEAD to run this course in other countries, which is possible with the support of AYADS like Sally, who work to improve communication and coordination between UN agencies and young people in the region. 

With significant work ahead in attaining the global goal of the World AIDS campaign:  ‘zero new infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths’, it is heartening to know that young people such as Thaw, Skand and Sally are working so hard to ensure there are skilled leaders for tomorrow to continue wearing the ‘red ribbon’. 

Australian Volunteers for International Development play a vital role in the fight against poverty and delivering an effective aid program.  The global HIV epidemic is a high priority for the Australian Government. AusAID has committed $1 billion since 2000 to tackle the spread of HIV in developing countries, and continues to contribute to the global response and to help developing countries mount an effective response.  For more information on volunteering overseas as part of the Australian aid program, visit: www.ausaid.gov.au/volunteers

Helen Henderson is an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development at the UNFPA in Bangkok. She is a youth specialist with a focus on improving the sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. She works closely with Sally Beadle and the YouthLEAD network.