ABUJA, Dec 5 (AFP) - Around 100 young AIDS activists bound their mouths shut with bandages and staged a sit-down protest in the main hall of Africa's biggest conference on controlling the disease Monday, demanding that their opinions be heard.
African youth groups held a forum on AIDS prevention in the days leading up to the 14th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA), but when Sunday's opening ceremony came around were not given a platform to speak.
As the main event got underway on Monday, the protesters entered Abuja's international conference centre carrying placards reading, "Youths are neglected, Why?", "Youths speak the truth" and "Youths are to be seen, not to be heard".
They sat down in the middle of the hall.
More than half of new AIDS infections in the world last year affected those under 25, who in turn make up a majority of Africans.
"During our discussions, we thought that there was a need to allow us more space as youths," said 20-year-old Eunice Aghete from Nigeria.
She called for "more participation of youths in the definition of programmes on awareness. We need comprehensive programs, all the youths can not be abstinent, behavioral changes are part of the issue, but there is a need for more."
Organisers took no immediate steps to remove the protesters from the hall.
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