In the most stirring speech from the High Level Panel on Civil Society, Mark Ahoud spoke by satellite from South Africa outlining the basic frustration around HIV and AIDS: Rich people live with HIV and poor people usually die.

In most parts of the world, human rights violations make HIV infection worse. Many people who fight for rights, in China and Zimbabwe among others, are repressed. Ahoud spoke about the vital role of civil society:

"It is the duty of civ society to uphold government commitments. When we gratefully accept the hand-me-downs of governments, we leave the poor and vulnerable even more vulnerable.

There is a direct link between civ soc pressure on governments and how well they uphold commitments."

Ahoud refuses for civil society to be beggars. Activists and young people working in advocacy must:

• Include systematic community action, human rights education, demanding to be meaningfully involved in every aspect of government.

• Demand continued funding, devise and implement systems that measure and monitor human rights.
• Demand investment in justic systems that poor people have access to.

• Mute witness to the demise of health systems.
• AIDS is not an exception. Every threat to the dignity and life of poor people should generate an exceptional response.

10 June 2008

Young people at the United Nations High Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS demand that their Governments keep their promises

1. Invest in youth leadership

Policies and programs will be most effective if they involve young people meaningfully in all stages of planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Governments must foster mentorship by initiating youth-adult partnerships, build capacities and create sustained spaces for youth participation. Youth representatives must be chosen democratically by youth-led and youth-oriented organizations and networks.

2. Take positive steps to promote and protect young people’s rights

The violation of young people’s rights puts them at greater risk of harm. The key to reducing vulnerabilities lies in the promotion and protection of these rights. Young people have all human rights irrespective of their age, gender, race or other status. These rights include the full range of their sexual and reproductive rights, the right to be free from violence and persecution and the right to confidentiality. They do not lose their rights merely because of their HIV status.

3. Make health services more accessible to young people

Stigma, discrimination and a lack of awareness make health services inaccessible to young people. Awareness must be raised about such services and their use must be promoted by messages in local languages and popular means of communication. Spaces for young people must be established at existing service centers. Respect for confidentiality and privacy must be ensured at these spaces.

4. Disaggregate data by age

Clear data is needed on how HIV affects young people. In all national censuses and health surveys, data must be disaggregated by age, sex and sub-population at the minimum. Such data once available will inform policies and programs to make them more effective.

5. Address HIV in the context of other sexual and reproductive health needs

HIV does not occur in isolation. With HIV, young people often experience sexual assault, gender-based violence, maternal mortality, unsafe abortions and discrimination based on sexual orientation. Therefore HIV must be seen and addressed in the context of young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.

6. Ensure access to comprehensive sexuality education

The provision of evidence based HIV prevention and comprehensive sexuality education is the most effective and sustainable mode of prevention. The best available evidence shows that “abstinence only” programs fail and actually cause more harm. Young people must have the information, knowledge, skills and commodities they need to protect themselves from infection and lead healthy lives.
____________________________________

This document was prepared by young people attending the High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS. For more information, contact youthaHLM@gmail.com.