Mainstreaming Jamaican Youth in HIV Prevention Programming

On Thursday, October 9, 2008 I participated in the Stakeholders’ Meeting on HIV Prevention for Jamaican Youth. The turn out to the event was absolutely impressive–78 national stakeholders of HIV/AIDS.

In managing the HIV Prevention Project since August 2008, I have done a whole lot of planning and research in order to ensure that success was achievable. The success of the Stakeholders Meeting was largely due to my high level of motivation, but I will not dare underestimate the hours that I spent preparing the following documents which also guaranteed my success with the HIV Prevention Advocacy Project–at least from the scientific point of view: Advocacy Plan, Advocacy Monitoring & Evaluation Report, Press Release, Media Advisory, Advocacy Introductory Letter, Stakeholders Meeting Invitation Letter, Advocacy Presentation, Stakeholders Database , Advocacy Meetings via telephone and face-to-face, and Stakeholder Meeting Invitation Cards.

I shared my presentation space with Shellie Ann Anderson a wonderful young woman who I met through the social networking site Facebook, who emerged as Top Recruiter of our Facebook Cause and Group. My Advocacy Presentation focussed on the need to complement HIV Prevention programming with the Internet, specifically Web 2.0 technologies, so as to increase interactivity, inclusiveness, and reaching out to youth through avenues that they are already participating in.

A number of issues were raised by meeting participants, which included the need for the revision of the Jamaica Report Card to reflect changes in the national environment since its publication; the need for it to be sensitive to the culture of Jamaica in terms of the use of terminologies such as: rape, buggery, and cult; and the need for the inclusion of minorities, such as Rastafarians and Musicians in HIV Prevention Programming for Youth.

By the end of the meeting, participants came to consensus that there was need for the following next steps:

1. Update of the Jamaica Report Card (2006),
2. Revise the Draft Youth Declaration to reflect the concerns, recommendations, and gaps articulated by the Stakeholders Meeting participants,
3. Facilitate follow-up meeting with stakeholders, in mid January 2009, who signed the Commitment Form to support the National Working Group (NWG) on HIV Prevention for Youth, and
4. Circulate the revised Youth Declaration to participants who committed to supporting the NWG for their feedback within two weeks subsequent to hosting the Stakeholders Meeting.

Some stakeholders expressed concern about the formation of the NWG, because of their belief that it might represent a duplication of work being done by other working groups and boards, which were formed to oversee HIV/AIDS programming in Jamaica. They reiterated the need for collaboration and partnership as an alternative approach to the formation of an independent NWG.