#02. May - June 2014
newsletter
This is a bimonthly publica!on of the Youth Aware Project, an ini!a!ve of the United Na!ons Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in partneship with the Ministry of Health, Ceará State Government, Municipality of Fortaleza, GAPA-CE and the Na!onal Network of People living with HIV/Aids in the State of Ceará (RNP+CE), and other partners Year 1, issue #2
General Coordina!on of the Project: Cris!na Albuquerque Chief of Child Survival, Development and HIV/Aids at UNICEF Brazil.
Second issue of the newsle$ er of the Youth Aware Project (Projeto Fique Sabendo Jovem), which aims to promote health and informa!on on preven!on against STD as well as increasing the number of tests for HIV, syphilis and viral hepa!!s among young people aged 15-24, in Fortaleza - Ceará, Brazil. Hip and cool, the project speaks their language. Get on this bus with us! Enjoy your reading!
Local Coordina!on of the Project: Francisca Maria Andrade Programme Specialist at UNICEF for the states of Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Piauí.
Publisher: Alexandre Amorim Communica!on Specialist at UNICEF Brazil – Professional Registra!on: MTB 4753/RJ
Editor: Marcel Bane T. dos Reis Journalist – Professional Registra!on: MTB 4714/BA
Design: Alessandra Guerra For more informa!on: Marcel Bane dos Reis – UNICEF
Like our fan page on Facebook and get to know more about the Youth Aware Project, our partners and ac!vi!es: #FiqueSabendoJovem
Youth Aware: The bus is on the streets! Informa!on about sexual and reproduc!ve health and lots of interac!on among young people were the main features during the first two tours of the Youth Aware Project’s Bus, in Fortaleza - Brazil. On May 5th and June 06th, young people that usually hang around mee!ng places for the LGBT community of the city joined the very first two ac!vi!es of the project’s mobile unit. Quite a premiére! The bus, which offers free and rapid tests for HIV/Aids, syphilis and viral hepa!!s, will be driving around several other places in town, announcing the ac!ons of the project. The inten!on is reach young people like Felipe de Souza, 22, who had never taken the test before and was quite surprised to see such a colorful and modern tes!ng bus parked at a Beach Cabana in Praia do Futuro. “The bus should drive around every doorstep, at gay bars and night clubs. One takes the test to take care of himself, but it could also help preven!ng the spread of diseases to other people”, he claims. The main innova!on of the project is its approach, based on the empowerment and voluntary work of its young agents. The whole mobiliza!on is carried out from one young person to another, which makes the dialogue a lot easier. “The project gives people the opportunity to access rapid tests, which are free of charge from the very first moment of the approach on the streets un!l the pre and posttest counseling inside the bus”, says Suliane Fernandes, 20, one of the volunteers of the project and also a member of the Support Group for the Preven!on of Aids (GAPA-CE), ins!tu!on which is a partner of the Youth Aware. It is a pilot project implemented by UNICEF Brazil, in Fortaleza, with the support of important partners. Get to know who they are by liking our Fan Page on Facebook: @FiqueSabendoJovem.
UNICEF promotes the exchange of ini!a!ves between Brazil, Jamaica and Belize for the preven!on against HIV among adolescents and the youth With the objec!ve of promo!ng the dissemina!on of good prac!ces and ini!a!ves that foster the availability of public services of preven!on and diagnosis of HIV/Aids, syphilis and viral hepa!!s among young people, UNICEF’s South-south coopera!on unit allowed for a true exchange of experiences last June, in Fortaleza. Around 150 people par!cipated in the ac!vi!es, among whom were members of governments, UNICEF staff, representa!ves of social movements and of civil society from Brazil, Jamaica and Belize, as well as guests and partners of the Youth Aware project. The agenda included the Interna!onal Seminar Brazil/Jamaica/Belize of Preven!on against HIV/Aids among adolescents, which provided the exchange of experience and strategies to overcome challenges in this field. During the event, Jamaica presented the Bashy Bus, a project which similar to Brazil’s Youth Aware, which drives along the streets of the country offering rapid tests and informa!on. Along with the seminar, the agenda of the mission included a visit to two centers that hosts adolescents under social and educa!onal measures: Educa!onal Center Aldaci Barbosa Mota, the only one to take girls, and Passaré Social and Educa!onal Center for boys. At the la$ er, the delega!on had the chance to see the Youth Aware bus which carried out rapid tests for HIV/Aids, syphilis and viral hepa!!s with interns of the center. The city of Eusebio, 25 km away from Fortaleza, also welcomed the delega!on. During the visit, the mission got to know the experience of project Adolescent Health Agent (ASA), also supported by UNICEF, which acts by bringing schools closer to health care centers, and vice versa, through the ac!on of young volunteers trained to work on themes related to health promo!on and preven!on against STD and to build a bridge between schools and health facili!es. Novia Condell, Programme Specialist for UNICEF Jamaica's Adolescent Health and Empowerment Programme, considers Brazil to be “an older and more experienced” country and believes that the whole experience was helpful and generated knowledge for the Jamaican team. “Our expecta!ons were met and we are returning home with a lot of useful informa!on to help us secure wider access to reproduc!ve health by our adolescents”, she pointed out. It’s the Youth Aware Project hand in hand with other expericences around the world, in a common effort to fight the HIV epidemia among young popula!ons and ensure that adolescents and the youth have their sexual and reproduc!ve rights respected. Come aboard!
Now it is the Law! It’s a crime to discriminate against people living with HIV. Brazil celebrates an important step in the struggle to erradicate the s!gma and prejudice: President Dilma Roussef passed, last June 6th, the law 12.984/14, which makes discrimina!on against people living with HIV/Aids a crime. The law establishes punishment with imprisonment from one to four years and a fine for a) tudes such as denying a job, segrega!ng at workplaces and in schools, and spreading the condi!on of a person living with HIV with the inten!on to offend as well as refusing to have them properly welcomed at health services. In order to file a complaint, the person who has been discriminated against should go to a police sta!on, report the incident and present proof that the discrimina!on took place. Before passing, the bill was voted at the Senate and the House of Representa!ves. According to the rapporteur of the law, senator Aloysio Nunes, people living with HIV are welcome to work at the Senate. Nunes has received recomenda!on by the Interna!onal Labor Organiza!on (ILO) sta!ng that there mustn’t be any discrimina!on or s!gma!za!on against workers because of the disease and that, if fired, dismissal should be based on the same criteria applied to the rest of the workforce. A*er ensuring protec!on to workers, the next step is to mobilize the community to take the rapid test for HIV, given the importance of the early diagnosis and, for cases found reagent, to start and s!ck to the treatment. That is the goal of the Youth Aware!
The Youth Aware Project started in Fortaleza, Ceará Brazil in 2013. Its goal is to increase the number of rapid tests taken for HIV/Aids, syphilis and viral hepatitis among young populations aged 15 to 24 years old. It also aims to estimulate the adherence and retention to treatment for cases diagnosed reagent for HIV.