Today's generation of young people is the largest in human history. Nearly half the world’s population—more than 3 billion people—are under the age of 25. More than half of the world's young people—some 850 million between the ages of 10 and 24—live in Asia and the Pacific.

This rapidly expanding youth population is increasingly vulnerable to HIV.  Young people are at the center of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Of the 10 million young people living with HIV worldwide, 21% live in Asia and the Pacific region. To date, globally, young people represent half of all new HIV/AIDS cases, and a nearly a quarter of all people living with HIV/AIDS are under the age of 25. An estimated 6,000 young people are infected every day—one every 14 minutes. The majority are women and girls.  In South Asia, where over 1 million young people between the ages of 15 to 24 are infected with HIV, more than half (62%) are young women.

Young people are key to defeating the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Yet in most countries, they lack access to the information, education and services that will enable them to make informed and healthy choices about their health, and the needs of adolescents are often left out of key international and governmental policies, agreements and budgets. UNESCO, in collaboration with other UN agencies, governments, NGOs and community-based organizations, supports efforts to ensure the reproductive and sexual health needs of adolescents, including HIV prevention education, are incorporated into programmes and policies implemented throughout Asia and the Pacific region.

Featured Resources

What's culture got to do with HIV and AIDS? (Healthlink, 2007)
This paper reports the initial findings from HIV/AIDS: The Creative Challenge, a project which is developing reflective discussion with field practitioners and policy makers on the value of cultural approaches to HIV and AIDS. The project has been developed by Creative Exchange in partnership
with Exchange and UNESCO. It looks at how the cultural dimension can be more effectively factored into HIV and AIDS communication programmes, which are often the area in which culture is most visible and effective.

Estimating the impact of HIV&AIDS on the supply of basic education (Risley, C., Imperial College & Bundy, D., The world Bank, 2007)
The study described here explores, for three regions with generalized HIV and AIDS
epidemics, the impact of the epidemic on teacher supply now and up to 2015, the
target date for the achievement of education for all.

Circle of hope: children's rights in a world with AIDS (Plan International - 2006)

This document describes a programmatic framework for responding to children affected by HIV/AIDS. This framework places children in the center, surrounded by families, communities, and institutions. Programme examples and child profiles are provided.

Review of the evidence: girls' education and HIV prevention (UNAIDS, UNESCO – 2006)

This CD ROM from the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Education contains more than 100 documents, case studies, reports, tools, curricula, and other materials from a range of settings and in several languages. Resources demonstrate the importance of girls’ education as a strategy for reducing the vulnerability of girls to HIV infection; provide examples of progress to date and suggestions for how the education sector can better meet the needs of girls; and advocate for intensified action around girls' education as part of national responses to HIV and AIDS.

Achieving the global goals on HIV among young people most at risk in developing countries: young sex workers, injecting drug users and men who have sex with men (World Health Organization – 2006)

This is a systematic literature review identified programmes in developing countries targeting young people in the three selected groups most at risk from HIV - young sex workers, injecting drug users, and men who have sex with men.  

All together now (International HIV/AIDS Alliance - 2006)

This is a toolkit on how to mobilize communities for HIV/AIDS prevention, care, support, and treatment and impact mitigation. The toolkit takes communities through a process of starting together; assessing & planning together; acting together; monitoring, evaluating and reflecting together; and scaling up together.   

Making the linkages: HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive rights (Youth Coalition - 2006)

This linkages booklet explain the importance of HIV/AIDS initiatives having a sexual and reproductive rights perspective as well as a youth perspective and discuss ways that young people can advocate for their sexual and reproductive rights within HIV/AIDS frameworks. 

Preventing HIV/AIDS in young people: evidence from developing countries on what works (WHO/RHR - 2006)  This report provides evidence-based recommendations for policy makers, programme managers, and researchers to guide efforts towards meeting the UN goals on HIV/AIDS and young people.

Sexual and reproductive health of HIV positive women and adolescent girls: a dialogue on rights, policies and services (EngenderHealth, Harvard University, ICW, Ipas, and UNFPA - 2006)

This report summarizes discussions from two electronic forums on human rights dimensions of services and policies related to the sexual and reproductive health of HIV positive women.

Effectiveness of an HIV prevention programme for secondary school students in Mongolia (Journal of Adolescent Health - 2006)  This research evaluated the effectiveness of a 3-year school-based HIV prevention programme for adolescents in Mongolia. Peer education programmes, particularly those that are managed by small teams, appear effective and should be implemented more broadly.

Five myths about the HIV epidemic in Asia (Public Library of Science Journal, October 2006)

In this Essay, the authors set out five myths that are commonly held with regard to HIV in Asia. They also suggest areas of policy that require greater clarity.

Bangladesh: adolescent girls, be careful of AIDS! (Financial Express, 28 Oct 2006)

Adolescent girls are more vulnerable to HIV infection because of biological, cultural and economic factors. In some of the poorer countries in world, girls, aged 15 to 19, are infected at rates as much as seven times higher than boys.

Passion & portraits: young women raise HIV awareness in South Asia (International Planned Parenthood Federation, 2006)  A photography project by International Planned Parenthood Federation gives a new approach to engaging women with the realities of HIV/AIDS in South Asia.

UNESCO guidelines on language and content in HIV and AIDS-related materials (UNESCO, 2006)

This publication establishes guidelines aiming to harmonise use of language and content that reflect an approach to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Sexual and reproductive health of HIV positive women and adolescent girls: a dialogue on rights, policies and services (UNFPA, 2006)

This report summarizes discussion from two electronic forums on human rights dimensions of services and policies related to the sexual and reproductive health of HIV-positive women.

Preventing HIV/AIDS in young people: a systematic review of the evidence in developing countries (World Health Organization (WHO), 2006)  This report provides evidence-based recommendations for policy-makers, programme managers, and researchers to guide efforts towards meeting the UN goals on HIV/AIDS and young people.

HIV AIDS and Human Rights, Young People in Action, A kit of Ideas for Youth Organisations (UNESCO, UNAIDS)  This kit presents ideas for youth action on HIV AIDS and human rights.  It has been prepared in close consultation with young people from various youth organisations.  

Zero tolerance: stop the violence against women and children (Global AIDS Alliance – 2006)

Worldwide, violence against women and children is playing a critical role in driving the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Global AIDS Alliance's (GAA) has released Zero Tolerance advocacy brief on August 1, 2006, this outlines a comprehensive framework for addressing violence against women.

Integrating reproductive health and HIV/AIDS programmes (Center for Strategic and International Studies – 2006)  Reproductive health and HIV services have generally been funded separately and operated vertically, which means that clients see a different provider for each health service. This report, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, discusses the centrality of integration, building on existing data, current programs, and research recently conducted in the field.

Socio-economic impact of HIV and AIDS in India (UNDP, 2006)  This study highlights the socio-economic impact of HIV in India. The impact has been detailed for a cross-section of issues such as income, education, health, gender, and levels of stigma and discrimination. The trends from this study suggests that HIV places the households at increased economic and social risk, and exacerbates existing gender disparities and biases such as discrimination in treatment, access to education, and burden of care.

Engaging communities in youth reproductive health and HIV projects: a guide to participatory assessments (Family Health International (FHI) – 2006)

This comprehensive guide outlines how to conduct participatory assessments with youth and community members for improved youth reproductive health and HIV prevention. It reviews youth participation, guidelines for training community participants, and suggestions for adapting the methods and tools for use at other project stages. 

“Preventing sexually transmitted infections among adolescents: 'the glass is half full' (Abstract; subscription needed for full text; Global - Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases, 2006)

This review documents the efficacy of recent STI prevention programmes. Overall, the review identified few STI prevention trials published since 2000. Moreover, considerable variability in programme efficacy was observed across studies. Some studies observed changes in STI-associated risk behaviours, while only a few identified reductions in biologically confirmed STIs. In general, few programmes demonstrated consistency of effects and a significant magnitude of effects across a broad range of outcomes.

Act, teach and Learn - Theatre HIV/ AIDS toolkit (UNESCO, CCIVS)

Advocacy Intervention Package: Prevention of HIV/AIDS among young people (AIDCOM, 2004)

Young people speak out meeting our rights to HIV prevention and care: Access for all (UNICEF, 2004)
 

HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheet: The Global Impact of HIV/AIDS on Youth (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004)
 

The tip of the iceberg: The global impact of HIV/AIDS on youth (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004)

HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Among Especially Vulnerable Youth People: A Framework for Action (WHO, 2004)

National AIDS Programmes: A guide to indicators for monitoring and evaluating national HIV/AIDS programmes for young people (WHO, 2004)

Protecting Young People from HIV and AIDS: The Role of Health Services (WHO, 2004)

Young People and HIV/AIDS: Opportunity in Crisis (UNICEF, 2004)

Our Voice, Our Future (UNFPA, 2005)

Youth Participation in RH & HIV/AIDS Policies & Programming: The South Asia Context (UNFPA, 2004)

Preventing HIV/AIDS Among Adolescents Through Integrated Communication Programming

(UNFPA)

Quality Education and HIV/ AIDS (Inter-agency Task Team on Education, 2006)

The body: The complete HIV/ AIDS resource (Body Health Resources Corporation)

Women, gender and HIV/ AIDS in East and South East Asia (UNIFEM)

STD resource network
Created by people with STD's.  Provides information on STD's and support networks.

Gynocological Awareness Information Network
Provides information on gynocological awareness and education.