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UNFPA strategy in preventing HIV/AIDS
among young people addresses three main areas which influence young people's
behaviour: knowledge, attitude and practice. As such, UNFPA aims at increasing
knowledge, building skills and improving services related to HIV/AIDS
prevention.
Situation analysis - Vulnerable youth
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The Kyrgyz Republic is a young country with almost half
of the total population (46 percent) under twenty years old. Poverty,
lack of opportunity and frustration are the defining characteristics
of life for many of this group. Incidence of alcohol and drug abuse
among adolescents, particularly boys, has increased significantly.
Drugs are cheap and easily accessible, whereas healthcare is expensive
and inaccessible. |
This environment also leads to risk-taking behaviour and unsafe sex.
As such, young people constitute one of the most vulnerable groups to
HIV/AIDS.
Over the past two years, the country faced a rapid increase in the number
of HIV-infected people. The most vulnerable group remains drug users,
who are also sexually active. For this reason, the spread of the virus
is now moving from drug-using circles into the general population.
The mean age at which young people have their first sexual experience
is 14.5 years. For most young people, the first sexual contact was not
planned and was sometimes accompanied by the effects of alcohol and drugs.
Among those who are sexually active, only 60 per cent use condoms. As
such, t he vulnerability of young people is increased by their superficial
or often incorrect understanding of basic issues of reproductive health,
such as puberty and pregnancy, contraception and safer sex, HIV/AIDS and
other sexually transmitted infections.
Key indicators on HIV/AIDS and young people
HIV/AIDS
estimations |
Official number of
HIV-infected people in Kyrgyzstan (October 2005): |
787 |
UNAIDS estimation
of real number of HIV-infected people: |
10 times higher |
Results
of a survey of 13-18 years old on knowledge of HIV/AIDS |
| Wrong
or inaccurate answers |
70 % |
| Respondents
aware that HIV/AIDS can be transmitted by a healthy looking person
|
30 % |
Source:
UNAIDS Kyrgyzstan |
On the ground, UNFPA is.
.spreading information, through:
- Development and distribution of brochures with accurate information
on HIV/AIDS
- Participation in nationwide awareness-raising campaigns, in cooperation
with the government, non-governmental organizations, international donors
and other UN agencies
- Use of entertainment-education techniques, such as the production
of soap operas or youth radio programmes related to HIV/AIDS
.building the capacity of young people,
through:
- Organization of trainings for young peer-to-peer trainers, using behaviour
change techniques
- Provision of technical and financial support to non-governmental organizations
involving young people in HIV prevention activities
- Support to curriculum development for school teachers on adolescent
sexual and reproductive health
.improving services for young people,
through:
- Creation of Youth Friendly Centers providing confidential, non-judgemental,
professional, accessible and affordable services to young people in
all regions of the country
- Support for the integration of volunteer confidential counselling
and treatment into the healthcare system
| Excerpt
from the ICPD Programme of Action 1994 |
| Programmes
to reduce the spread of HIV infection should give high priority to
information, education and communication campaigns to raise awareness
and emphasize behavioural change. Sex education and information should
be provided to both those infected and those not infected, and especially
to adolescents. (From paragraph
8.31) |
In Focus: Y-PEER, peer-to-peer education
for young people
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As a response to the spread of HIV, several NGOs
with the support of UNFPA have started their work on prevention
by promoting a healthy lifestyle for youth, raising awareness and
improving knowledge on sexual and reproductive health.
These initiatives were supported by the development of Y-PEER,
a network which was created to empower youth to fight for their
health. Y-PEER also uses web-based communication to share information,
resources and lessons learned. |
In Kyrgyzstan , Y-PEER has been effective in building a forum for dialogue,
learning and sharing which resulted in a number of roundtables, conferences
and discussions about best practices and fields for improvement organized
by young people. Today, the network brings together about 30 national
non-governmental organizations, which promote peer-to-peer education.
For more information on Y-PEER: www.youthpeer.org
Approximate annual budget, from regular
resources: USD 50'000
If you want to know more about UNFPA efforts
in preventing HIV infection globally, check our
global
website.
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