| From: |
Mawethu Zita [ profile ] |
| Subject: |
GYCA Wire: August/September 2011
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| Sent: |
Oct 1st, 2011 - 05:24:01 |
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Dear All
FYI
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mawethu Zita
Date: Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 11:20 AM
Subject: Fwd: GYCA Wire: August/September 2011
To: Mawethu Zita
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: GYCA
Date: Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 3:08 AM
Subject: GYCA Wire: August/September 2011
To: mawethuzita (at) gmail.com
[image: GYCA
Wire]
GYCA Wire
August/September 2011
Young
Women Empowerment Campaign on HIV
On 9 August 1956, about 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings in
Pretoria, South Africa to protest against legislation aimed at tightening
the apartheid government's control over the movement of black women in urban
areas. This has inspired GYCA and Pan African Student Movement of Azania
(PASMA) to bring together 160 young women and 40 young men on the 20th of
August 2011 to protest against HIV stigmatisation, HIV discrimination and
HIV and AIDS related deaths in South Africa. 101 young people, mostly young
women, became agents of change by testing and knowing their HIV status.
Zandile Mqwathi,
GYCA's National Focal Point for South Africa, and Khoison Sonti of PASMA
managed to organise this event and invited guest speakers including Sergeant
Thabitha Maphanga from the South African Police Services. Ms. Maphanga
encouraged young women to speak out against all abuses including sexual
abuse and shared her own personal experience as a survivor of abuse. Mrs
Matebogo Mampane from Soul City Institute facilitated a dialogue which gave
the participants an opportunity to engage on their social challenges,
particularly dealing with HIV/AIDS.
Since then, young people have requested a collaboration of sectors working
on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights and related fields of work to join
together to send a common message to various communities in similar age
ranges. The nature of this event was well welcomed by the community and has
led to another partnership between GYCA and Butterfly Young Women's
Organization (BTYWO) to host the same event (Young Women Empowerment
Campaign) in Winterveldt Multi-purpose Hall, Mabopane on the 8th October
2011. It is expected to attract about 100 rural young women who are mainly
the participants from around the Communities of Winterveldt, Mabopane and
Hammanskral. This campaign will be contributing to address MDG
#3(Promote
Gender equality and empower women) and MDG
#6(To
combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases).
Read more
New
York, New York: 6 Words and An Empire State of Mind - by Jermaine Spencer
Any previous thoughts I had about how my first trip to New York would be a
vacation were dashed as soon as Sydney said, "Well let's talk about GYCA
history." With these six words all hopes for fun, smiles and hanging out
with other Regional Focal
Points(RFPs)
in the penthouse of a Manhattan high-rise just a couple of blocks
from major New York City landmarks (Broadway, the Empire State Building,
Times Square, etc.), came to an end. Or so I thought! It is true that those
six words shocked me back into the reality that I and my fellow RFPs were
here to work and help chart the future course of GYCA. However, what
ultimately happened was a culturally rich, instructive and empowering two
days that cannot be found within the pages of any published guidebook on New
York City.
16 Hours is not a long time to strategically plan the direction of an
organization, especially during possibly the greatest period of economic
difficulty our generation has ever experienced. Yet, as young people who are
naturally optimistic and visionary, some great ideas emerged from our
discussions. One such idea focused on the development of an alumni programme
to bridge the gap between persons who age out of the GYCA system and those
who remain. This suggestion was developed as a response to the recognition
that much institutional memory and capacities are lost when persons age out.
Furthermore, incoming GYCA members and RFPs can benefit from the networking
opportunities and continue to leverage the tremendous talents and skillsets
of alumni towards personal and organizational development.
Other ideas that emerged during the working session focused on strengthening
the organizational capacities of GYCA. For instance, standardization of
email addresses for RFPs could ensure continuity once a RFP term had ended.
The most exciting proposal that emerged was of that of GYCA partnering with
a celebrity or a member of a Royal Family to raise the profile of the
entity. This would give the organization a higher level of visibility and
significantly promote the tremendous global work that is already being done.
In addition, such a partnership could be used to attract new donors and
stabilize the financial viability of the entity.
In the end, the training was a great experience with bittersweet moments. On
one hand, we celebrated Lindsay's birthday with cupcakes but had to say
goodbye to Reshma! All in all, the RFP training was a great opportunity for
everyone to show how much they care about GYCA now and plan for the future
ahead.
Read more
Goodbye
Note from Reshma Pattni
Dear GYCA members, partners, and allies,
It has been an amazing experience working with and being a part of the GYCA
team over the last 3+ years. I have learned so much during my time here that
has made me a stronger advocate, and I appreciate having connected with so
many of you on a personal level as well as working jointly to ensure that
youth issues are effectively addressed in the global response to HIV.
When I first began at GYCA, I was leading the E-course and Small Grants
program and was inspired and motivated by the work of our members. Many of
the e-course graduates and grantees have come into leadership roles
themselves, and it has been a joy to work more closely with each of these
advocates and activists. Seeing GYCA through our participation in the
YouthForce at AIDS 2008 and AIDS 2010, regional AIDS conferences, the
International Year of Youth, UNGASS and the High Level Meeting on AIDS, and
annual CPD and CSW sessions, I was made aware of the power of youth voices
and participation at these events and the role GYCA plays in facilitating
this inclusion. Despite the challenges we, like many other NGOs, face as
part of the economic crisis and the continuation of limited funds for our
work, I am confident that GYCA will bounce back and persist. We must
continue to ensure that youth are actively involved and the needs of those
most affected populations of youth are addressed in the response.
GYCA's membership and impact continue to grow as part of a strong global HIV
response (largely thanks to the excellent work of each of you!), and it has
been a privilege to serve you all. The outstanding GYCA team, with staff in
the US, Ghana, and Mexico and our unstoppable Regional and National Focal
Points throughout the world, will carry on the impressive and important
mandate of our network. I look forward to seeing all the great work of GYCA
and its members in the coming years.
Warm regards,
Reshma
Read more
ICAAP
10th: Uniting Voices through Unfortunate Events - by Rachel Arinii
Judhistari
"*ICAAP is the largest HIV/AIDS Forum in Asia Pacific Region and the second
largest one in the world. Also it is a biennial gathering for the release
and discussion of scientific, programmatic and policy developments in the
global response to the issues of HIV/AIDS. The Co-convener of ICAAPs is the
ASAP and UNAIDS. ICAAP promotes opportunities for greater regional
collaboration, sharing of ideas amongst people infected and affected by the
HIV/AIDS epidemics from across the Asia and the Pacific region and provides
regional and national organisations, governments and individual stakeholders
with space to enhance their mutual contributions in the response to
HIV/AIDS.*" - ICAAP Website
*Remarks:*
The conference did not have a lot of participants due to the South Korean
government's strict regulations. Drug users, people who were HIV positive,
and transgenders were prohibited from obtaining visas. Furthermore, the
government seemed to criminalize people who were on oral subtitution
treatments that involves methadone. During the conference, the protest from
local activists reached its tipping point when the police came to the venue
and arrested a Korean activist. Two persons were hospitalized and
threateaned by the police. As a result of this incident, other participants
of the conference took their protest to the conference organising committee
and suggested to boycott the conference if the arrested activist was not
released soon. The arrested activist was released the next day.
*Pre-conference activity: Community Forum and the break sessions*
The Community Forum (CF) historically convened by The Coalition of Asia
Pacific Regional Networks on HIV/AIDS (7S) as part of the pre-ICAAP program
took place on 24-26 August 2011. The CF consisted of eight individual
day-long forums designed to reflect the main concerns of the community and
was organized by eight out of ten sub-committees (representing KAPs). These
committees composed the Community Committee of the 10th ICAAP Local
Organising Committee (LOC) along with an International counterpart.
Participants included Civil Society (CS) representatives from the AP region
along with some pre-identified experts, donors, other stakeholders, and
human rights activists. Community Groups for Forum Breakout Sessions
consisted of: Interfaith, Migrants/mobile populations, MSM/LGBT, People
using drugs, Sex workers, Women and Girls and Youth.
*Youth Forum:*
The pre-conference session for young people was attended by 50 participants.
One of the aims of the main sessions was to share the initiatives in
promoting young peoples SRHR via the HIV/AIDS programme which uses the
comprehensive sexuality education model. Furthermore, there was a screening
of a documentary film "V talks" which presents young womens sexuality in
three regions of Indonesia.
*Community Report Back session:*
Some of the main insights from the community report back session are as
follows:
1. It is clear that rights of young people are abused and denied, not
because they are young, but because it is difficult to assert youth rights.
Young people have the right to decision-making and the right to voice out
youth issues, which is the right to comprehensive sexuality education.
2. Acknowledge that treatment is prevention. Young people deserve to have
improved access to safer, more affordable, and more effective ARV regimens
and prophylaxes, treatment of opportunistic infections and co-infections,
and corresponding diagnostics. Eliminating the barriers to youth-friendly
services such as lack of resources, stigma and discrimination, punitive
laws, illiteracy, and parental consent will benefit everyone affected by
HIV, regardless of HIV status. After having a discussion on the previous
day, here are youth statements:
- Promote a safe environment free from bullying &discrimination in
schools, family or the community due to their diversity, which includes
gender, sexuality, status etc. This can be done through 'police', laws,
policies etc.
- Provide access to legal, insurance, health, social etc services
specific to the needs of young KAP or vulnerable population.
- Demand a mechanism which reports the violation of rights of young KAP &
present a report
Read more
Your interest, support and involvement with the Global Youth Coalition on
HIV/AIDShelps
our community to grow and empower more young leaders with the skills,
knowledge, resources, and opportunities they need to scale up HIV/AIDS
interventions amongst their peers! As a GYCA member, you are part of a
dynamic community of over 5,000 young leaders and adult allies working on
youth and HIV/AIDS in over 170 countries and territories. Thank you for
being involved!
[image: TIG Logo]In
friendship,
*The GYCA Team*
[image: GYCA]
Copyright 2011 GYCA
The GYCA Wire is the official newsletter of the Global Youth Coalition on
HIV/AIDS,
electronically published via email, and compiled from various events and
news from within the GYCA network. Contributions should be sent to
info (at) gyca.org. Please include your full name, age, and your TIG username.
--
Mawethu Zita
Regional Focal Point for Southern Africa
Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS
Fax to email: 0865529161
Cell: 0725171718
Skype:mae2_zita
mawethu (at) gyca.org
www.gyca.org
www.tigweb.org
Profile: http://profiles.takingitglobal.org/mawethuzita
GYCA is a youth-led global network of over 6000 young leaders and adult
allies working on youth and HIV/AIDS in 173 countries world-wide.
GYCA'smission is to empower young leaders with the skills, knowledge,
resources and opportunities they need to scale up HIV/AIDS interventions
amongst their peers.
*"Dreams need a place where no boundaries exist, and joy likes to be in a
space where God is the only limit. Please continue to dream and dream BIG"
by Douglas Pagels*
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