In another milestone effort to control the increasing infection of HIV, the Ministry of Gender Youth Sports and Recreation (MGYSR), Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW), the National AIDS Commission (NAC), young people, UNICEF and partners met to review the operational plan for the young people's component of the National Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Strategy.
The BCC strategy focuses on changing knowledge, attitude, behaviours and practices of young people, their families and communities for preventing HIV and addressing other sexual and reproductive health issues.
The severity of young people's vulnerability to HIV infection is evidenced by the disconcerting data. Girls, in every age group, are the most infected; with for example, 8 per cent of females compared to 2 per cent of males aged 15 -19 living with HIV. Sexual activity starts as early as 12 and 14 years old for males and females respectively, and only 10 per cent of males and 6 per cent of females use condoms when they have sex for the first time. Changing fundamental human risk-taking behaviours that continue to fuel the spread of HIV, is the ultimate goal to prevent HIV infection.
The urgent call for a persistent commitment to meet the diverse and changing needs of young people and to address the characteristics of the social, cultural and physical environments that place them at risk compelled partners to move forward on implementing the young people's component of the BCC.
"The operational plan for young people, addresses individual behaviours and recognizes the importance of core social norms fuelling vulnerability. It pays special attention to structural elements of the environment such as lack of protection for adolescent girls, inequity in society, migration etc., and seeks to tackle the social drivers of the epidemic, including human rights violations, stigma and discrimination and gender inequality" said Dr Aberra Bekele, deputy representative UNICEF.
Richard Mabala, from Tamasha - NGO that spearheaded peer to peer research to inform the operational plan, said "We need to find out why the young girl could not close the overflowing tap of water. Unless we detect and address the underlying causes that fuel the spread of HIV we will not be able to close the tap, and make sure it remains closed. Only young people can tell us how," he said.
Development partners fervently highlighted the role and importance of the church in influencing young people and their behaviour. "Over 30% of congregation members are often young people. The church plays a pivotal role in shaping young people's values and beliefs, and must therefore be a strong partner," said Dr Raj, from Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
Young people's voices were at the heart of the discussions. They stressed that 'youth should be consulted from the onset of programmes providing inputs and participating meaningfully in decision making, not only as tokens'. "Churches can reinforce positive values by presenting messages in a more comprehensive, attractive and friendly way. Abstinence is a very important message, and should be conferred in a way that young people perceive its benefits and relate to it, not in a punitive way," said Matlosa, director of the youth led NGO Cross Roads. Young people also stressed the importance of being able to communicate to their parents and finding common grounds to feel valued and supported.
"We can no longer afford to work in silos and expect results in HIV prevention. We have an intense web of sexual networks that needs to be broken, a flow that needs to be stopped. Behaviour change is an intricate process, deeply embedded into how each individual is socialized; only together, (development partners, young people, families and communities) we can turn off the tap and stop HIV's course," said Motlalepula Khobotlo, from NAC.
The director of Youth, MGYSR, Tsoanelo Mathafeng, reported on the National Youth Council Act being in place and that, "Preparations for the establishment of the Lesotho National Youth Council, the body that will serve as a driving force behind all young people's programmes, have started," he said.
"The next steps will see the operational plan being finalized and translated into materials and interventions for social and behavioural change among young people" said the Chief Health Education Officer from MOHSW, Khabiso Ntoampe, "This plan will serve as a guiding tool to ensure uniformity of action and better sharing of available resources for programming for and with young people."