Aids: o que pensam os jovens: políticas e práticas educativas / Aids: what the youngers are thinking: educational politics and practices

RESUMO

More than half of todayÆs newly HIV infections are amongyoung people. More than two decades after the first AIDS case in the world, youngsters still remain uninformed about their own sexuality, not to mention sexually transmitted diseases. Although they know or have heard something about aids they do not believe they are really at risk. How to contribute to include the young people on the aids debate, and make them more aware that they are co-responsible for mitigating the epidemic impact? This publication is the result of the project funded by JointUnited Nations Programme on HIV/Aids - UNAIDS, Young People Commitment and Co-responsibility in Preventing HIV/Aids Spread which main objective was to include the youth perception in the formulation and implementation of HIV/AIDS policies, strengthening the involvement of youngsters in the containment of the epidemic. This initiative gathered seven youngsters from the civilsociety, of different Brazilian geographic regions and social contexts. During two years they discussed their perceptions on relevant issues regarding the epidemic. The core of the debates was on youth leadership, sexuality, education, drugs, public health system, AIDS at schools, AIDS at workplaces and many others. It is important to highlight that the Youth Working Group, the first in his kind in Latin America, was based on interventions that seek the development of youth life skills. This publication intends to raise awareness by promoting strategies in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic taking into account youth participation in the policy making process, as well as the implementation of preventive actions.