Jamila Taylor's blog

Young people --predominantly young women -- make up 40% of new HIV infections worldwide (UNAIDS, 2007). And during a workshop session on August 2 for the Youth Pre-Conference, young men and women proved that they are capable of making sound policy recommendations when it comes to their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

I co-facilitated a workshop session entitled Understanding Public Policy, with Brian Ackerman of Advocates for Youth and Andrew Francis of Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network. We led an exercise where young participants deconstructed proposed legislation, U.S. global AIDS policy, and ABC (Abstain, Be Faithful, and Use Condoms) policy guidance distributed by the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator. Afterwards, the participants broke out into groups to develop sound policy recommendations based on that deconstruction for presentation to lawmakers and governments responsible for overseeing the implementation of global AIDS policy through programs and services.  read more »