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By Prateek Suman Ashwanti and Annelies Mesman
Good afternoon everyone. Buenas tardes a todas y todos!
I am honoured to have the opportunity to report to all of you today on the exciting and intense week that we have shared together in this beautiful city of Mexico.
As you have just heard, I am the Chief Youth Rapporteur at the 2008 International AIDS Conference.
Therefore I will do my best to report to you what this conference has meant for young people. I will also talk about what I perceive as the major highlights of the conference.
From my perspective as a young person, I think there are five words that express most clearly what was most significant about this conference: visibility, prevention, partnership, lead
ership, and human rights.
First, I will talk about visibility.
At the 2006 Toronto AIDS Conference, young people came together as the Toronto Youth Force.
We announced to the world that we were disproportionately affected by the epidemic.
We announced to the world that we were major stakeholders in the response to the epidemic.
We announced to the world that we were ready to play our part.
From Barcelona to Bangkok to Toronto to Mexico, the Youth Force has become bigger and stronger.
There were more young people at this conference than ever before.
There were more young people as speakers and presenters in plenaries, panels and sessions than ever before.
Yo ung people were involved in the organization of the conference and made important contributions to the discussions that took place in and out of session rooms.
Young people were recognised for their scientific contributions with the Young Investigators Award.
In terms of visibility, this conference was a landmark for the community of people living with HIV, men-having-sex-with-men, injection drug users and sex workers.
People living with HIV were at the centre of this conference.
For the first time, there was a plenary session on men-having-sex-with-men and an international march against homophobia.
All of us saw, hopefully not for the last time, Methodone Man and Buenorphine Girl in their attractive costumes drawing attent ion to issues of harm reduction.
We saw sex workers speaking out for their rights and protesting against the UNAIDS Draft Guidance Note on Commercial Sex Work and PEPFAR Anti-Prostitution Pledge.
Yet, much remains to be seen in terms of visibility.
We heard calls about the lack of data on youth issues.
We heard calls about the lack of data and attention to the effect of the epidemic on lesbians.
We heard similar calls from trans-gendered people and other sexual minorities.
And there are many calls we did not hear and people we did not see.
Next, I want to talk about prevention.
A week before the conference, the UNAIDS Epidemic Report showed that for every two people who have access to HI V treatment, five people get newly infected.
With more than 45% of all new infections amongst young people between 15-24, about 3000 young people get infected daily – that is 2 every minute.
This conference saw a renewed interest and commitment to working on prevention.
This conference recognised the importance of positive prevention for people living with HIV.
The pendulum is swinging back from treatment to prevention.
This conference also saw a more comprehensive approach to prevention.
Earlier, we were asked why information didn’t automatically lead to behaviour change.
Earlier, we heard questions such as, “Why do young people engage in risky behaviour despite knowing the risks?”
Today, we have begun to see how poverty, inequality, stigma, discrimination, criminalization, unemployment, violence, disability, fundamentalisms, humanitarian crises and other social factors are barriers to effective prevention.
Today, we have begun seeing evidence that shows how prevention programs that address social determinants are more effective and more sustainable.
Today, we have begun to see the role that new technology and communication can play in the impact of prevention programs.
While looking at the virus, we cannot ignore the terrain.
Prevention programs must be based on evidence and address the realities of young people.
My third observation is about partnerships.
The Mexico Youth Force was built by young people of 75 youth organizations coming togther for a common purpose.
It brought together young people from different organizations, countries, cultures, HIV-statuses, religious beliefs, genders, sexual orientations and backgrounds.
Under the Youth Partnerships Initiative of the World AIDS Campaign, young leaders from the youth preconference interacted and built partnerships with other young leaders from the ecumenical pre-conference, the labour preconference, the sex-workers’ preconference and the MSM pre-conference.
There was the recognition that young people are not a single homogenous group. We are part of every group and represent every constituency.
Positive young leaders across the spectrum met an d formed partnerships.
Young people began and strengthened partnerships with civil society, governments and international institutions.
If AIDS has taught us anything, it is that we need to unite and build partnerships.
Constituencies of stakeholders working in the response to HIV and AIDS need to find common ground and work together.
The partnerships we have built and continue to build are valuable resources that will bring us closer to universal access.
Yet, more needs to be done to bridge gaps that exist.
Researchers and human-rights activists need to work closer together. International institutions and grassroots communities need to sit at the same table.
Constituencies that have never work ed together before will need to find a common language. They will need to build trust and skills in order to communicate better.
We all need to build partnerships to ensure that enough resources are mobilised to fund the response to HIV and AIDS. We need to build partnerships to ensure that those resources we have already mobilised are spent effectively.
This includes funding for young people’s sexual and reproductive rights and youth-led initiatives to provide a platform for meaningful participation.
Such partnerships must be equal and respectful. Young people should not be involved in a peripheral or tokenistic way, but as decision-makers in their own right, in the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes and policies that affect us.
My fourth observation is about leadership.
At the youth pre-conference, Dr. Pedro Cahn took the lead by being a dependable ally of the Mexico Youth Force.
The Mexican Minister of Health, Mr. Cordoba Villarobos took the lead by making a commitment to young people at the Youth Pavilion.
Heads of UN agencies including Peter Piot from UNAIDS and Thoraya Obaid and Purnima Mane from UNFPA took the lead by engaging in several conversations with young people.
Leaders of business such as Bill Roedy of MTV took the lead by promising to establish a Youth Advisory Board to review and advise on all MTV programming for young people.
The International AIDS Society took the lead to put together an ambitious and c hallenging agenda. The executive director of the Society, Craig McClure took the lead by announcing he is committed to supporting the leadership of young people in the response to AIDS.
And it goes without saying that young people have taken the lead again and again to speak out about the issues that concern them and to advocate for their rights.
While this is heartening, there are still those who are silent on young people’s issues.
There are still those who don’t meaningfully engage with young people.
There are still those who deny young people the right to decide on all programs and policies that affect their lives.
There are still those who do not take the lead and do not take responsibility.
Young people urg e each person in civil society, government and international institutions to take the lead on youth issues.
Young people urge the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to take the lead on youth issues.
Finally, I want to talk about Human Rights.
What will probably be remembered as the major achievement of this conference is the renewed emphasis on the centrality of human rights.
This conference recognised that now more than ever, human rights must occupy the centre of our response to HIV and AIDS.
Yesterday afternoon, I saw all the diverse individuals, organizations and institutions that have been affected by the epidemic rally around human rights.
A key demand of young people working on HIV and AIDS has b een the promotion and protection of their human right to comprehensive and accurate information and education about HIV and AIDS.
This week, the meeting of Ministers of Health and Education of Latin American and Caribbean countries committed in declaration to providing young people comprehensive sexuality education.
This is a good beginning. But it does not end here.
The challenge will be to ensure that these ministers remain accountable to their promises.
The challenge will be to ensure that decision makers remain accountable to the declarations they have signed.
The challenge will be to ensure that that we keep each other accountable for the failure to meet progress to Universal Access by 2010.
The challeng e will be to advocate for governments of all countries to commit to the protection and promotion of the broad range of human rights including sexual and reproductive rights.
The challenge will be to ensure that these human rights become accessible to all people regardless of their gender, age, sexual orientation, profession, drug use, HIV+ or other status.
This conference was an opportunity to review the progress we have made, to look at lessons learnt and to plan our efforts for the future.
We have our work set out for us. We have our commitments before us.
The next Conference in Vienna will be a similar opportunity for all of us engaged in the response to AIDS to come together and to hold each other accountable.
It has be en a privilege to report on the happenings of the pre-conference and the main conference for the past week and a half.
I was fortunate to have the help and support of several people who I’d like to thank. Mara, Prateek, Karolien, Claudia, Dalila, Rayonne… and of course, the organizers and volunteers of the Mexico Youth Force.
Thank you. Muchas Gracias y hasta luego.
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