Young people in Vanuatu are taking action to build awareness of HIV/AIDS in their communities. By Pacific Program Officer Li Fung.

Congress participants take part in a drama skills workshop to promote awareness of HIV/AIDS. Photo: Li Fung/OxfamAUS

"Listening to stories from people who are HIV-positive had a great impact on me ... before I came to the congress, I didn't understand how HIV/AIDS was transmitted, how HIV positive people felt, and the discrimination against them." These are the words of Rebecca Bogiri, a 16-year-old student from Vanuatu who attended the first national youth forum in the Pacific dedicated to HIV/AIDS.

Held last November in Vanuatu and supported by Oxfam Australia, the National Youth AIDS Congress was an opportunity for 100 young people from Vanuatu to discuss issues related to HIV/AIDS and develop strategies for educating their peers and communities about prevention, support for HIV-positive people, and combating stigma and discrimination.

To forge links and promote learning across regions, Oxfam Australia facilitated the attendance of Sizwe Mchunu from Targeted AIDS Interventions, one of our South African partners which runs school-based AIDS programs in KwaZulu Natal province. Sizwe works with boys and young men, using soccer events to raise awareness and reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. Coming from a country with a very high HIV prevalence, Sizwe was able to share how HIV/AIDS affects a community, a society and a nation as a whole.

Currently, there is only one confirmed case of HIV/AIDS in Vanuatu, and most young people have had no exposure to people infected and affected by HIV. Sizwe's fellow guest delegates at the congress were HIV-positive women from Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands and one woman from Vanuatu, who shared personal accounts of the stigma and discrimination they have faced within their communities. Francisca, a 20-year-old woman from Papua New Guinea, has lived with HIV since the age of fifteen, and was rejected by her family and community at a time when she most needed love and support.

Francisca is yet to speak publicly about her HIV status in her home country, fearing further discrimination. Twenty-year-old Andrew Williams, a peer educator and one of the congress facilitators, said the congress had a very big impact on young people, especially in relation to issues such as voluntary testing, stigma and discrimination. "I believe that whatever the way forward in Vanuatu, this has helped to change the course of Vanuatu's HIV/AIDS epidemic," says Andrew.

Sizwe Mchunu from Targeted AIDS Interventions in South Africa with children after the congress. Photo: Li Fung/OxfamAUS

The participants from Vanuatu were not the only ones to benefit from the exchange of ideas. According to Sizwe, a key lesson he learned was to look beyond himself and see how he can share with and help others. Attending the congress made him realise that young people in South Africa should recognise the progress they have made in addressing HIV/AIDS in their country, and should share this knowledge and experience with others.

Towards the end of the congress, the young participants set action plans for activities in their communities. Oxfam Australia is now supporting several projects arising from the congress, including an HIV/AIDS awareness and life skills training program targeting young people in rural islands; and the development of a youth drop-in and information centre to be used for awareness-raising, drama and counselling on adolescent reproductive health.

Find out more about our work in the Pacific at www.oxfam.org.au/world/pacific.