Objectives
1. To build awareness and capacity,
including leadership skills of in-school youth
around HIV risks and vulnerabilities
(including substance abuse); and sexual
and reproductive health (including
gender issues) within a rights-based framework;
2. To promote a better understanding and
new approaches to addressing sexual and
reproductive health, HIV and human rights
issues through dialogue between and among
students and stakeholders;
3. To support networking between and
among young people and a wide range of
stakeholders (e.g., parents, teachers,
organizations, government) based on
knowledge and understanding of HIV, public
health and human rights.
Process
A series of workshops to build awareness and capacity, share knowledge, promote dialogue and support networking will be conducted (and combined with field-level exposure) between the months of August and November, 2009. The first, orientation workshop is scheduled to take at Vasant Valley School on August 4, 2009. Several follow-on workshops will be conducted thereafter.
Over the next four months, students will work with several peers in the process of identifying real stories pertinent to adolescent health, sexuality and rights of young people. They will adopt various communication and documentation tools to capture issues and real stories of challenge and triumph. These stories (which will take various forms of expression, e.g., music, digital stories, films, photography, art, dance, drama) will find resonance across several, wide-ranging students, young people and groups of stakeholders.
Finally, the initiative will culminate in a national-level event (tentatively scheduled on November 25, 2009) to be conducted by the students and young people themselves. This event will consolidate the cross-sharing activities, showcase and disseminate knowledge, and support student networking and advocacy around relevant issues at the national level.