Inter Press Service - June 25, 2001
Mithre J. Sandrasagra

The activists' stand symbolised that youth - officially, people aged 15 to 24 - had joined the list of constituencies sidelined or excluded by UN member states in the run up to and at the special session, which ends Wednesday. Other groups with similar complaints included women, family planners, lesbians and gay men. Armed with placards declaring "It's time for the UN to give us a say" and "We are sounding the alarm for our lives," more than 100 young people from various countries assembled under the umbrella of the International Youth Leadership Council and Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based lobbying group.

Many said they had paid their own way to come and voice their concerns - only to find that access to the official proceedings was restricted to national delegates from the 189 UN member states.

Only a handful of countries made place for youth representatives on their delegations. Those who came from unaccommodating countries were confined to lobbying in corridors or protesting in public spaces but were not allowed access to the podium and official meeting rooms.

"We can either be the next generation of leaders or the next generation of statistics," said Naina Dhingra of the International Youth Leadership Council. "Every minute, five people ages 15-24 contract HIV," added Marcela Howell of Advocates for Youth.

UNAIDS, the UN agency leading the world body's response to the deadly epidemic, estimates that 10.3 million young people are living with HIV-AIDS, out of a global total of some 36 million infected persons. Half of all new cases of infection - more than 7,000 per day - occur among young people.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his latest report on the epidemic, said, "Working with young people is fundamental to an effective response against HIV-AIDS."

"An effective response involves a special focus on the needs of young people," Annan's report stressed.

In Howell's view, those words remain hollow. "The UN may talk about young people and HIV, but youth still do not have a voice that reflects both the impact this epidemic has on their age group and the role they must play in determining how to effectively reach their generation," she said.

"Unless you have youth involved, you will never reach them," Howell added. Her organisation specialises in adolescent sexual health issues.

As recently as May 22, only one country had appointed a youth representative to its delegation for the special session: The Netherlands.

"It was very disappointing that there were no youth at the PrepCom (Preparatory Committee) for the AIDS special session held in May, ... other than myself." said Jessica de Ruijter, the Dutch youth representative.

At 22 years of age, de Ruijter was the youngest person involved in debating the draft declaration officials are expected to finalise and adopt at the end of this week's talks. She represented the Dutch Council on Youth and Population. Over the past month, five other countries named representatives younger than 25 to their official delegations, Howell said. They were Cambodia, Jamaica, Kenya, Senegal, and St Kitts and Nevis.

"This is a good sign but is still nowhere near enough," de Ruijter said. "We need to be actively involved in the decision making processes that affect us." More than 3,000 participants registered for the special session and the informal meetings held on its fringes - among them, politicians, scientists, corporate executives, and non- governmental organisations. By contrast, the number of young people with an official role to play stood at six. (END/IPS/WD/HD/HE/mjs/aa/01)
010625
IP010625

Copyright ©1990, 2000. ÆGIS. All materials appearing on ÆGIS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of ÆGIS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. Feedback/Contact Us.