RATIONALE:
- It is the right for young people to participate meaningfully in their own development.
- Involvement and participation of beneficiaries leads to more effective and sustainable programs.
- As key beneficiaries in HIV related programming, youth know what is best and can work for them.
- Youth know best the language and approaches to reach their peers. OBJECTIVES:
- Facilitate the excha
nge of information and knowledge-sharing about best practices and lessons learned from youth policies and programmes as well as on major opportunities and challenges for moving the agenda of young people’s rights, gender equality and sexual and reproductive health forward.
- Enable greater understanding among youth groups and youth-serving partners on
- National policies and programmes, and how adolescent and youth concerns can be advocated for in various political and socio-cultural contexts;
- Advise the NAC AIDS Action Committees at the various levels on how best to enhance youth participation in the development of its policies, programmes and activities across the areas of its mandate;
- Identify emerging issues in young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.
- Advocate for youth involvement and participation in collaboration with existing youth networks at various levels in the country in order to strengthen collaboration in HIV and AIDS related issues of common interest and or major initiatives, with linkages to regional-level activities.
- Establish a mechanism for open dialogue and exchange of information between youth groups and youth-serving groups and to advise the National coordination forum on the strategic opportunities and actions to address HIV related issues.
- Promote youth leadership in the national response to HIV and AIDS for young people in Zimbabwe, meaningfully engaging them in research, policy advocacy and programming (at all levels of the project cycle), at all levels of the national coordinating structure. (national, provincial, district and ward)
