AIDS 2006: Youth Site

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About Us

What is the Youth Programme?
The AIDS 2006 Youth Programme supports the meaningful participation, integration and inclusion of young people throughout all levels of the conference, including planning and development. Through the efforts of a Youth Advisory Committee, the Youth Programme will ensure access and meaningful participation on panels, in skills building workshops, forums, non-abstract sessions, abstract sessions, as moderators and presenters, and ensure the visibility of youth throughout the conference, throughout the Cultural Programme and the Global Village.

What is the YouthForce?
This coalition of global youth NGO's, student groups, and networks including The Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Taking IT Global, Family Health International, and United Nations Population Fund, amongst others will be a collective voice of young people at the Conference.The YouthForce concept started at the AIDS 2004 International AIDS Conference in Barcelona where the Barcelona YouthForce advocated for youth issues internationally and locally.

The objectives of the Toronto YouthForce are to facilitate collaboration amongst stakeholders committed to youth HIV/AIDS issues; provide capacity building and skills to young people so that they can participate effectively/ meaningfully; and to promote intergenerational (youth-adult) partnerships before, during and after conference

AIDS 2006 Youth Programme/YouthForce Organogram

History
In early 2002, an international network of young people and adult allies involved in HIV programs from both developing and developed countries representing over 40 organizations came together to form the Barcelona YouthForce. The Barcelona YouthForce was a successful advocacy effort to raise the visibility of youth issues at the International AIDS Conference and promote renewed discourse during a time when issues of young people and HIV/AIDS were being overshadowed by discussions about treatment and care of people living with HIV and AIDS. Through a variety of advocacy approaches, and physically bringing youth from all regions of the world working on HIV/AIDS issues to Barcelona, the YouthForce accomplished its agenda, even garnering recognition from the former US president Bill Clinton during the closing ceremony.

The XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok in 2004 introduced for the first time a youth specific component in the main Conference programme. The Youth Activities component was one of the highlights and strengths of the Bangkok Conference, and momentum has been building since to continue with and expand youth involvement throughout future IAC�s. The aim of the Bangkok Youth Activities was: 'to promote the importance of youth and bring youth to be part of the Conference to have their voices heard and contribute'. The conclusion of the Report on Youth Activities at XV IAC Bangkok states "as we have been expected as 'Leaders of Tomorrow', young people will need to step up and shape the world with our own hands. To do so we have to be given access to information, access to care and services, access to resources, and access to policy making to enable us to make the change happen."

Although young people are more than half of people infected each year by HIV, in Bangkok only 450 out of 19,000 conference attendees were youth1, and at the International AIDS Conference in Barcelona 2002 only 200 were under 30 years of age2.

One of the objectives of the Bangkok Youth Activities was to form a HIV/AIDS focused youth coalition that would be connected to global communities. Youth leaders from the emerging coalition worked closely with the Community Programme Secretariat to plan, fundraise for, and implement the youth component of AIDS 2004 Bangkok. With the encouragement of UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot, and with initial support from UNFPA the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA) was formally initiated at Bangkok, after also being proposed by youth participants at the Barcelona Conference, "because youth comprise more than 50% of all new infections, they feel a need to actively participate within international dialogue on HIV/AIDS issues and acquire much-needed skills and resources for self-empowerment". The Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS now has a membership of over 1,000 global youth leaders.

In Bangkok, conference organizers made efforts to accommodate the participation of youth in the conference, ensure technical and policy discussions about youth HIV/AIDS issues, and provided space and other resources for the YouthForce. Activities of the YouthForce included advocating for greater youth participation in the conference, connecting youth and adult leaders to collaborate on programs and advocacy post-conference, building the capacity of young people to participate in the science of the conference via pre-conference training, and generating media attention toward issues of how youth in developing countries are affected by HIV/AIDS through public events involving celebrities, press conferences, providing visibility opportunities for young people through media interviews, and other activities.

The Bangkok YouthForce's motto was: More Youth Voices = Fewer HIV Infections. Involving target audiences in programs that affect them is a globally accepted best practice. At the Bangkok YouthForce Rally, UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said, "Young people have a right to be involved in developing programs that are intended to protect them. In fact, youth involvement as decision-makers is one of the most important strategies in HIV prevention. Young people should be full, equal partners in developing and implementing national AIDS action frameworks. Tokenistic involvement is neither acceptable nor effective."

In April 2005, GYCA submitted a proposal to the International AIDS Society (IAS) for AIDS 2006 Toronto planners to increase 'meaningful youth participation', including youth living with HIV/AIDS. In its proposal GYCA emphasized not only the need for youth and child participation to effectively confront HIV/AIDS globally, but the right to participation citing the UN 'Convention on the Rights of the Child' 4and the UNGASS 'Declaration of Commitment'.

The International AIDS Conference has now initiated the AIDS 2006 Youth Activities Programme which is working to develop youth-focused programming, special events concentrating on youth issues, and dedicated space for youth and adult leaders to meet and address HIV/AIDS issues important to youth. The AIDS 2006 Youth Activities Programme is guided and supported by the AIDS 2006 Youth Advisory Committee, a global committee with representation from 13 countries and liaisons to the Conference Community Programme Committee, Leadership Programme Committee.

In April 2006, TakingITGlobal (TIG) an international youth-run NGO, along with GYCA assisted the AIDS 2006 Toronto Host Secretariat in planning of the Toronto Local Host's "Youth Participation Introductory Consultation" held June 21, 2005. The consultation brought together approximately 20 youth leaders and adult allies from an impressive sampling of international, Canadian and Toronto based HIV/AIDS, youth related or youth specific organizations and coalitions.