UN urges youth involvement in HIV/AIDS fight

The United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) sounded a warning at Tanzania's National HIV/AIDS Conference on Thursday, saying that without involving and supporting the youth, the fight against HIV/AIDS would never be won. Children present at the conference echoed those remarks, claiming that at present, their participation in HIV/AIDS campaigns and policy making was minimal. Several delegates noted that the stark reality of the warning was exactly what was needed to change the tone of the conference from "business as usual" to a constructive workshop for change. "We have to start accepting and respecting that children and young people have their own understanding of their problems and opportunities and that they are trying their level best to do what makes sense to them," cautioned Bjorn Ljungqvist, UNICEF's resident representative in Tanzania. Several Tanzanian youths, who were accompanying the UNICEF head at the national launch of UNICEF's The State of the World's Children 2003 Report, agreed. "Children do not feel involved in HIV/AIDS policies at all," Lilian Giweti, who works on the Kisarawe Youth Development Network, told PlusNews. "Instead of just being told what has been decided we need to be more involved in the discussions and the projects. This is important because it is us that are most at risk, so we should have a say." Supporting these claims, Ljungqvist outlined why so much emphasis should be placed on the problems facing children. More than 60 percent of all new infections are in young people below the age of 25 years; over 70 percent of sexually active girls reported granting sexual favours in order to be able to meet basic daily needs; and 30 percent of all primary school pupils, 60 percent of secondary school students and 70 percent of out-of-school youth are sexually active, he said. UNICEF said that, in Tanzania, there were close to two million children that had been orphaned, infected or otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS. Similarly, with an estimated seven to eight million young people between the ages of 12 and 24 years lacking any proper basic education, and with limited prospects of employment and a satisfactory livelihood, this generation was running the highest risk of HIV transmission, Ljungqvist said.