A Force to Be Reckoned With: Blogging from the International AIDS Conference

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Contributed by Janna A. Zinzi, Guttmacher Institute

The XVII International AIDS Conference (IAC) officially kicked off on Sunday as 25,000 delegates from all corners of the world descended upon Mexico City for an intensive week of learning, activism and dialogue. My Guttmacher colleague, Joerg, and I arrived a few days before the main event to participate in the aptly-named Fuerza Joven de Mexico (Youth Force of Mexico), a three-day pre-conference gathering for young advocates aimed at raising the visibility of youth HIV/AIDS issues before, during and after the IAC.

More than 300 young people, many connected to international NGOs, make up this vocal coalition promoting youth participation and youth-adult partnerships. Under this year's theme of "Rights, Respect, Responsibility, and Resources," Fuerza Joven's focus is advocating for early, comprehensive, evidence-based sex education to prevent the spread of HIV among young people who make up more than four in 10 new HIV infections. A number of sessions also focused on gender issues as well as the needs of marginalized groups, such as sex workers and gay youth.

The Guttmacher Institute's "Protecting the Next Generation" project, which focused on adolescent needs in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America, as well as Guttmacher research within the United States, provide clear and strong evidence supporting this theme, and we enthusiastically conducted a workshop to help youth activists improve their messaging skills, particularly by better communicating research findings to policymakers and other audiences. More than 30 young people, from Kenya, Honduras, Belgium, the United States, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere, attended the workshop, gaining helpful messaging tips for use throughout the week as they speak with journalists, policymakers, funders and other stakeholders. Our goal was to arm them with the tools to better understand and communicate solid scientific evidence to general audience and to better recognize junk science. You can check out our primer on "Interpreting Research" by clicking on this link.

Though officially over, the Fuerza Joven de Mexico Conference's energy and momentum only continues to grow as the IAC continues. Whether through panel participation, impromptu dance performances, protest marches and exhibits in the Global Village hall, these determined young people work to ensure that their voices will not only be heard, but also respected. They are proof that passionate activism, backed by solid evidence, is a force to be reckoned with.

Janna A. Zinzi joined the Guttmacher Institute in October 2006. Her responsibilities include marketing and promoting Guttmacher evidence, publications and spokespeople to a wide range of audiences, including outreach to new audiences. She achieves these objectives through coordination of in-house events, such as the Guttmacher Exchange, and management of the Institute's participation in a variety of external activities. Janna has an extensive background in public relations and marketing, most recently from Swirl Public Relations, where she focused on publicity campaigns and written materials for nonprofit, health, music and entertainment clients. Prior to Swirl, Janna was the public relations and marketing director for St. Mary's Center, an adult day health care program for people living with HIV/AIDS. Janna has a B.A. in communication from the University of Delaware and an M.S. in mass communication from Boston University.

Posted by Jessica - August 05, 2008, at 04:32PM | in Events , Health , International

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