News

Help strengthen and connect the HIV youth movement!

12 August 2013

Across the world, youth activist and organizations are lobbying governments to remove laws and policies that prevent them from accessing services related to HIV and sexual and reproductive health as well as harm reduction. They are educating their peers about HIV prevention, supporting young people living with HIV to access and adhere to treatment, speaking out against stigma and discrimination based on HIV status or sexual orientation, and engaging with policy makers and programme developers.

These pockets of change, resistance and social action must be better connected to create a strong and collaborative grassroots youth movement on HIV.

In May this year, 25 youth-led and youth serving organizations came together to develop a platform to help us do just that: connect, organize and expand the HIV youth movement.

Together, we decided on five themes where we have committed to focusing our collective energy:

  • Integrate HIV into Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services and policies
  • Increase access to evidence-informed prevention and treatment
  • Remove laws that prevent young people from accessing services
  • Resources for young people and HIV are allocated based on need and evidence
  • Ensure HIV remains a priority in the post-2015 development agenda

We are calling this commitment the PACT for social transformations in the AIDS response . We have secured the commitment of UNAIDS to this framework.

We need to collaborate and support each other to achieve our objectives and change the HIV response. If you are a youth-led or youth-service community, national, regional or global organization and want to take part in building a stronger HIV youth movement over the coming years – click here to sign up.

If you want to find out more about the meeting in May, click here to download the full meeting report.

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