Bonjour!
Warm greetings from Geneva! I’m currently attending the UNAIDS Board meeting
called Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) 2011 as a CrowdOutAIDS representative
with Aram Barra, the Latin America forum moderator (follow the conversation on
twitter @UNAIDS and hashtag #PCB2011).
While
at PCB, Aram and I will be speaking on our experiences on CrowdOutAIDS project.
We will also serve as bloggers :-), reporting on the PCB process the
commitments and support raised during the meeting. We will generally be keeping
you informed on how PCB work and how high level decision makers shape policies.
You
might want to check out our first blog post on: http://www.crowdoutaids.org/crowdoutaids-team-at-pcb-meeting-crowdoutaids/
Other
reports will be published on CrowdOutAIDS Blog as we progress.
Meanwhile,
today, the CrowdOutAIDS team held a session themed “Strategy development 2.0:
How UNAIDS is crowdsourcing its new youth strategy.”
In
case you missed the session! Read my presentation below- okay just a talking point, it changed a bit! :-) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asAfWqF2eJo)
As CrowdOutAIDS blog-editor and online content curator
My
name is Jennifer, I am the blog editor and online curator for CrowdOutAIDS. I
am Nigerian journalist with a keen interest in youth development issues.
When
I first heard about CrowdOutAIDS and the process of crowdsourcing new UNAIDS
Strategy on young people and HIV, I knew I had to be a part of the project. The
whole concept of developing a UNAIDS strategy on youth and HIV online and
offline looked timely and innovative.
Role
Over
the past 5 weeks, I have been working in the capacity of spreading the word
about the project online. Reaching out where young people interact on different
social networks and professional forums.
My
job has been to pass on the message to one group and encourage and trust them
to in turn disseminate it to other networks they are active on. This way we
have been able to reach thousands of young people around the world as you saw
on the crowdmap.
Such
networks include: Facebook and the different groups within Facebook, online
interest forums such as Youth Making Change group on Yahoo, Blogs focused on
youth audience and of course Twitter.
We
also have a CrowdOutAIDS blog where we communicate the process of the
crowdsourcing as well as issues affecting young people in relation to the
project. I think this is really important because it creates a feedback loop
where we can keep participants up to date about what goes on in the project.
Every
week, writers and journalists are invited to guest blog and share their
perspective on different themes, such as HIV and youth, youth leadership and
engagement, How NGOs, the government and the UN agencies can better work with
young people etc.
We
have published some really interesting articles with authors from Tanzania, to
Tunisia, Nepal and Chile, all sharing their unique perspectives and
experiences.
Offline
forum
One
of the critics I heard at the beginning of this project was why we were only
reaching out to the elite youth; that is young people who are mobile or
connected to the internet. Many people wanted to know what we are doing in
terms of engaging youth offline/youth at the grassroots.
It
is interesting to see how CrowdOutAIDS team have been able to integrate an
offline twist to the whole process of crowdsourcing. Thus, no youth are left
behind.
A
tool kit was created for young people online to adapt to their local
communities and take the lead in hosting offline forums with youth at the
grassroots. Young people were given the tools and were empowered to take it
upon themselves to organize and lead– they didn’t have to wait for an
invitation from anyone.
I
had the opportunity of attending one of the Offline forums that was organized
by Kikelomo Taiwo, a young Nigerian advocate and peer-educator. The Offline
forum took place in Abuja and had young male activists in attendance.
It
was interesting to see the high level of energy and strong sense of ownership
expressed by the participants.
The
usual sense of detachment that can often be seen among young people in
HIV-related seminars was absent. It was like the youth participants saw the
need to really share their views and ideas on how UNAIDS can better work with
young people. It was seen as an opportunity to influence global policy. They
understood that this was a youth driven project and their stake in it is
high.
Personally, I also think that
model of engaging people in conversation, rather than just throwing information
at them is truly empowering.
You can also see this in a quote
from a CrowdOutAIDS forum hosted in Lesotho, were the participant said:
“I
strongly believe that this strategy is going to work. This must be the first time the UN and
its Member States are trusting us completely regarding addressing challenges
brought by AIDS particularly amongst the YOUTH! Big UPs UN!”
Resource
you can use
For more information on how to participate
or connect to the project, FREE of charge, please visit www.crowdoutAIDS.org
Follow
on Twitter: @CrowdOutAIDS Hashtag: #CrowdOutAIDS
Host
an Offline forum: http://www.crowdoutaids.org/crowdoutaids-meet-ups/
Put
yourself on the crowd map for possible future collaboration with UNAIDS: http://www.crowdoutaids.org/crowdmap/
Read
our Blog: http://www.crowdoutaids.org/blog/
Thank you for reading! :-)
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