rights

by Annelies Mesman, youth rapporteur and CHOICE board member, and Vanessa Brocato

“Universal Action Now!”— more than 300 young people from around the world gathered for 3 days before the International AIDS Conference to empower each other to move beyond rhetoric to concrete action.  As part of Mexico YouthForce, young leaders led discussions on not only HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care but also the range of sexual and reproductive health and rights and social justice issues that intersect with and complicate responses to AIDS.

“Hope is here.  Adults don’t know the challenges we are facing; they are guessing.  You can never be successful if you design any program for young people without them.  This is for all the adults here: Let the Mexico YouthForce speak!” said Igor Mocorro, a 21 year old from the Philippines.

Prior to this event, 125 young people from 46 countries worked together, communicating virtually, to create key messages of the Mexico YouthForce.  Throughout the Banamex, posters will carry the following resulting slogans:

•    Rights: we have a right to comprehensive, accurate information and services to protect our sexual health.
•    Respect: for our realities, our experiences, and our contributions.  read more »

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Sex workers from across all continents, including most countries in Latin America, have come together in Mexico City prior to the International AIDS Conference to build community, increase sex worker visibility, and unify to demand recognition of sex worker rights as an integral part of HIV/AIDS work. Following on the great sex worker organizing that happened in Toronto at the last International AIDS Conference (IAC), activists are hoping that by coming together before the actual IAC sex workers will be better positioned to advance their messages and visibility, especially at a crucial time when new attacks on sex worker rights are happening in name of saving sex workers.  read more »