red between leaders of faith communities and men who have sex with men, and between commercial sex workers and the business community.

The World AIDS Campaign will compile a report of the commitments, and follow them up and report on them in Vienna at the AIDS conference in 2010.

But this isn’t the only group collecting commitments in Mexico. At the Youth Pavilion in the Global Village young people staff a “youth commitments desk”, asking for leaders to promise to scale up youth participation in their programs.

In 2006, the youth commitments desk at the Toronto AIDS conference collected 371 commitments. But making commitment doesn’t guarantee action. A team of youth followed up the 371 commitments and found a completion rate of 25% .

ut of the estimated $30 million needed according to UNAIDS.

“Less than 10% of high risk populations are receiving appropriate prevention.” Alex Coutinho, Executive Director, Infectious Disease Institute Uganda.

Outside of Africa – drug users, sex workers and men who have sex with men make up the vast majority of those contracting HIV. It’s amazing after 25 years and billions of dollars we are not able to better address these populations. There is research and success stories that document what works in these populations, especially in Mexico and Brazil.

Youth are key to this struggle actually – we need a generation of young people that can fearlessly empower and protect the human rights of sex workers, prisoners and drug users. < br />

wide gap between non-infected and infected youth, young people’s reluctance to get tested, and the lack of commitment young people have to support infected persons. Panelists also touched upon the double standard between adult and children disclosure; adults are told about their status via well trained health care providers while children and youth are often told their status via parents or caregivers who are not properly trained to support them. Discussions also focused on a growing body of evidence that suggests that while orphan hood in Africa is an important factor, it is not the only factor. Research has shown that orphans do not necessarily suffer greater deprivation so, including factors such as orphan hood, we must consider poverty, regional factors, and gender disparities as more effective measures.

Panelists showed that without education youth can perceive HIV+ status as a ‘death sentence’ and untreatable, they feel shame and exclude themselves from society. Those not infected and uneducated about the subject often use derogatory language, play ‘the blame game,’ and excluded HIV+ persons from society; as Christabell noted “discrimination leads to stigma, whether knowingly or unknowingly”. However, with proper support and education youth who are living with HIV have a better outlook on life and can see the possibilities for a brighter future.

In the future Panelists would like to see more effective strategies to combat reluctance to get tested and hold youth accountable to know their status. Panelists recommended t hat health care workers and parents receive training to properly support young people, take them through the testing process and also to communicate status disclosure with youth appropriately since “trust in [your parents] is key, if you can’t trust your parents who can you trust?... Keeping an illness from a child, a child who has their own body and their own mind, is devastating and should not happen” as Stephanie Raper noted. Best practices include those exemplified by SAYG who provides psychological support, opportunities to form partnerships on health issues and information for peer education. SAYG uses effective approaches including community asset mapping, programs and interventions and community resources. Developing disclosure guidelines and best practices is also importan t. There is also a strong need for youth friendly services so that youth feel comfortable about being tested and are open to receiving support.

r increased to 29.4 percent. Sexual contact while under the influence of drugs or alcohol was 24 percent before migration and and 41.6 percent after migration. While MSM was a 3.6 percent before and 6.9 percent after.

The study sampled 458 Mexican migrants from primarily male dominated work, bar and community venues in California. Most at risk were populations ranging from ages 18 to 20 and migrants who had been working in the U.S. for over 5 years. Women were surveyed but were not among the prevalent numbers sampled.

Currently, 28 million people of Mexican origin live in the U.S., 11 million of them immigrants.

red between leaders of faith communities and men who have sex with men, and between commercial sex workers and the business community.

The World AIDS Campaign will compile a report of the commitments, and follow them up and report on them in Vienna at the AIDS conference in 2010.

But WAC isn’t the only group collecting commitments in Mexico. At the Youth Pavilion in the Global Village young people staff a “youth commitments desk”, asking for leaders to promise to scale up youth participation in their programs.

In 2006, the youth commitments desk at the Toronto AIDS conference collected 371 commitments. But making commitment doesn’t guarantee action. A team of youth followed up the 371 commitments and found a completion rate of 25%.

ly lugging around.

Pizza for breakfast managed to fuel a media mental day. We’ve been grabbing many an interesting interview for our sex education project and for you to sit back, relax and enjoy.

Today we saw one of the most interesting sessions so far with a panel of incredibly involved young people talking about youth participation and the HIV and AIDS response. We’ve seen so many experienced speakers this week in high profile positions that were no where near as engaging or eloquent as some of the panel today. Probing questions made for some very exciting and lively discourse.

We rounded off the day with another session on harm reduction which has become something that we feel should be central to U.K focus of our work. This was closely followed by an impressively horrible meal that’s we attempted to eat whilst being serenaded by a whining Mexican songstress. The fun we have. Thankfully Alice saved the night with some tasty, tasty churros and chocolate.

mación oportunidad a jóvenes y métodos anticonceptivos.

A pesar del compromiso que han tenido para la Fuerza Joven era importante contar con su presencia y reafirmar su compromiso. Desde los integrantes de la Fuerza Joven en México daremos seguimiento a estos acuerdos en pro de la juventud mexicana.

as na luta contra a AIDS.
Portal: O que é incidência política?
Manuella: "a incidência política é um conjunto de ações e de estratégias, forma de mobilização e atuação pra gente conseguir atingir nosso objetivo, influenciar uma outra parte e chegar aquilo que a gente quer. Então afinal de contas, a incidencia política, a importância dela ta nisso, pois a gente como parte da sociedade civil parte de movimento social. Esse é o nosso principal papel, fazer com que os responsáveis, garantam que os direitos sejam cumpridos, e façam os compromissos acontecer, que não fique somente nos papeis, então diria que a incidencia política é a principal função, papel, objetivo, motorzinho da sociedade civil".