Updates from READY
Malawi
In Malawi, in 2023, an event was organised in the Salima district to commemorate #IYD2023 and to promote green skills for young people living with HIV. Fifteen champions were engaged to lobby with the stakeholders to promote the benefits of green skills for young people.
In 2024, Y+ Malawi arranged for four young people to participate in this year’s Youth Concert Forum, where they interacted with local leaders. The event was attended by community members from Traditional Authority Tambala, including chiefs, faith leaders, the Ministry of Health, and other stakeholders. Its aim was to encourage leaders to prioritise important issues such as addressing gender-based violence, reducing teenage pregnancies, tackling HIV stigma and discrimination among youth, and promoting HIV testing and prevention efforts. Local leaders committed to increasing their efforts to prevent gender-based violence and teenage pregnancies, and the event helped to strengthen collaboration between chiefs, faith leaders, and stakeholders working with youth in the district.
Mozambique
In 2023, Y+ Global embarked on a 4-day country visit to Mozambique, meeting with the REPSSI Mozambique country director, Community Adolescent Treatment Supporters (CATS) and mentors, and other READY+ partners. This field visit was crucial in providing technical support to country partners and monitoring the progress of its programmes.
Later, in 2024, Zvandiri, a READY implementing partner, conducted mentoring visits to CATS in the Gaza province. The visits aimed to assess the progress of CATS activities at the community and health unit levels. CATS received support to implement strategies to address challenges in providing HIV counselling services to their peers.
Tanzania
In July 2023, the Network of Young Positives (NYP+) held a consultation with the Head of Policy at the Ministry of Health. They had the opportunity to present the NYP+ program and discussed the engagement of young people in the national health review processes.
Since then, the READY Movement have made great strides. The Network of Young People Living with HIV in Tanzania has trained youth advocates to spearhead strategic advocacy efforts and showcase the remarkable progress achieved through the READY program. These youth leaders will actively engage in social media campaigns to raise awareness of the incredible achievements of the READY program, particularly in Dar Es Salaam and Kagera. A significant achievement in these cities is the recording of zero cases of HIV mother-to-child transmissions from January to June 2024. The READY Movement is committed to strengthening the capacities of young advocates in digital advocacy and youth-friendly services to improve access to SRHR and HIV service and will collaborate with youth-led networks to amplify the voices of young people in promoting policies that will sustain a future where young people have access to affordable reproductive health services in Tanzania.
Zambia
In Zambia, in 2023, the Zambia Network of Young People Living with HIV embarked on a four-day SRHR training to empower adolescents and young people to be resilient. Youth advocates and peer educators (CATS) facilitate sessions on youth inclusion and engagement in SRH and the HIV response. They developed work plans and budgets, shared knowledge and experiences on SRHR, addressed stigma and discrimination, and promoted self-care, mental health and positive living. They also held a training on self-care approaches at Matero Level 1 Hospital. This was to encourage adolescents and young people living with and affected by HIV to practice self-care, maintain healthy relationships with their minds and bodies, and build healthy relationships with others.
In 2024, and building off the success of 2023, the Zambia Network of Young Positives organised a READY+ Youth Advocate Training to empower young people to prioritise self-care and amplify their voices. The training focused on enhancing communication skills to effectively represent community priorities in policy and decision-making processes and across various communication platforms. The network introduced the READY+ to Care scorecard tool to young people at the Matero Level 1 Health Facility. This tool helps guide adolescents and young individuals on the quality of services they should expect from healthcare providers and can be used to assess the quality of services provided to adolescents and young people living with HIV. This initiative is a significant step in advancing leadership and enhancing the capacity of young people in healthcare settings.
Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Young Positives trained 20 youth advocates on effective engagement with relevant stakeholders to ensure the improvement of quality health care. This engagement strengthened the meaningful participation of key and vulnerable populations in the decision-making processes and on issues concerning their health.
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