Category Archives: Let’s have fun!

12.05.12
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Global Youth Forum: YSNAP Coordinator is giving opening speech!

YSNAP Coordinator, Rinaldi Ridwan and and Rishita Nandagiri had a few things to say on young people, bodily integrity, abortion rights, and sexual orientation in our Opening Ceremony speech at the Global Youth Forum in Bali:

10.16.12
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Annyeonghaseyo from South Korea!

Written by Park Hyun Ah, YSNAP from South Korea

Annyeonghaseyo!

I’d like to share you all about activities that has been conducted on last month in Seoul, South Korea!

Planned Population Federation of Korea (PPFK) had a workshop with our youth community namely “Top-Us” from 31st August up to 1st September 2012.  It’s a big annual event, and this year 240 people gathered in Seoul to join this workshop, and 220 out of 240 people were youth volunteers like me!

This workshop included capacity building with our Executive Director, fun activities (like healing dance), and team activities such as making a mascot for the youth community, proposing next year’s youth programs, and lots of fruitful discussion!

As for me, I attended this year’s Regional Youth Forum in Bangkok, so I briefly reported about this forum. I will share you more about Korea’s present condition and would love to also listen to your stories. See u soon. Bye 🙂

10.11.12
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Engaging church to deliver Sexual and Reproductive Health services to young people in Samoa

Written by Manu Solomona

Church is one of the agent of change. Not all church opposing the access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Samoa Family Health Association (SFHA) has done it nicely. SFHA has continued to spearhead SRH and all related issues at the Church Youth on Sunday. This outreach is an initiatives of the Peer Educator Performing art group under the leadership of the Clinical and Community Services Manager (Faumuina). This is a very effective strategy to advocate for SRH and Sexuality at the Community because church can reach a lot of young people in Samoa.

Sunday is the best time to advocate for youth, because this is the time every young people congregate for their Sunday Youth Programs. This is where we implement this program through their existing program in Church.

The good news is the Church Ministers and Youth Leaders have given their full support to this activity! The issues discussed in this programs including Teenage Pregnancy Awareness, STI and HIV/AIDS, and drugs abuse.

This program is an ongoing initiatives. The Performing art groups performed dancing, skits and songs which bring message for the youth. Most importantly,we also advocate to the schools to provide us chance to give information and services on sexual and reproductive health and sexual awareness! More to come from Samoa! We will share you more 😀

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10.10.12
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Youth Summit: Putting youth voices for the post-2015 new development framework

What will happen if there are more than 30 young leaders under 30 years old from all over the world gather in one place at the same time? There might be a fruitful discussion!

IPPF was initiating the Youth Summit in Oslo, Norway on 27th – 28th September 2012 along with Norwegian Government. And from East and South East Asia and Oceania Region, we have selected six young people to come to this event and from YSNAP we have Ratna from IPPA, Indonesia!

At the end of the summit, six participants from ESEAO region made a vision about the region in the future, here it is:

What we picture ESEAOR in 15 years:

  • Equality for all sexual orientation;
  • Gay marriages are allowed;
  • No travel restriction for people living with HIV and for LGB;
  • Achieve gender quality and gender balance;
  • Comprehensive sexuality education is universal;
  • Rule of law and legislation: reproductive health bill passed;
  • Women’s empowerment;
  • Freedom of choice, families can have 2 kids;
  • No more patriarchy;
  • Solidarity across the region;
  • Freedom/liberty of expression;
  • No discrimination;
  • People living with HIV are healthy and have access to medicines and treatment;
  • Progress and development
  • Gender norms broken;
  • Peace and security

How to achieve:

  • More dialogue between government, media, civil society, youth networks, and international agencies, ensuring focus on individual rights and choices;
  • Youth networks supported, and to promote youth adult partnership;
  • Build capacity and provide data/training on SRHR;
  • Enable young people to network and find more resources;
  • Provide more platforms like this one;
  • Ensure knowledge sharing and exchange research;
  • Mentoring the networks;
  • Facilitate country specific development plans, bring together all SRHR actors;
  • Provide platforms for advocacy at national level plus positive propaganda;
  • Small grants and seed grants for youth-led initiatives;
  • Create shadow reports
  • IPPF becoming the endorsement agency for youth friendly services (standards in place)
  • Legal supports

Priority: to establish and guarantee communication channes between governments, NGO, YOUTH, leaders (including religious, community and political), international agencies, for exchange of knowledge, research, experience, resources, funds, and skills for achievement and better sexual health, enabling environment, and educational opportunities, while ensuring individual rights are respected, protected and fulfilled;

What can I do?

  • Anti-corruption in foreign aid through government and other channels: find out which organizations/individuals are working on corruption/accountability/transparency, so I can join them in monitoring aid money;
  • Media: use social media to generate discussion on social issues as well as corruption; generate awareness and increase youth participation in SRHR;
  • Write columns on issues discussed, e.g. on universal access to sexual education, youth participation in SRHR, legislation on SRHR, corruption on NGO projects, etc.
  • Establish web portal to link everyone working on SRHR in the country, especially young people;
  • Collaborate with youth networks to promote family planning access for young people;
  • Find ways to reconcile/find common platform between “human rights” and cultural/religious ideologies/beliefs;
  • Promote web portal to decrease isolation of LGB persons;
  • Education: work through “business coalition” to provide informal comprehensive sexual education to their employees, especial on sexuality and gender;
  • Provide sexuality education to school students through youth network and volunteers;
  • Build capacity of youth volunteers on advocacy and participation;
  • Use pilot schools to demonstrate impact of comprehensive sexuality education;
  • Improve knowledge and capacity o young women’s network on SRHR;
  • Improve sharing and feedback mechanisms within the youth network;
  • Strengthen link of youth network and national youth structures;

How to move forward the current group of emerging leaders:

  • Stay in touch online;
  • Tasks and ideas that we can do: follow-up on our commitments;
  • Connect us to the regional offices and receive mentorship and support from them;
  • Ambassadors for IPPF in our communities;
  • Send us the report of this meeting;
  • Advertise the small grants and promote them to regional offices, donors, etc.
  • De-brief regional offices and develop a strategy to take forward;
  • Skills training for better advocacy and leadership work;

Priority: to establish a formal line of communication between the “emerging leaders” and IPPF, through which training, resources mobilization, experience and knowledge sharing, advocacy support and program initiation is conducted.

09.30.12
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Can you imagine a world without sexual rights?

This short thought-provoking film imagines a world without sexual rights and the devastating impact that would have on the lives of young people.

‘Dead End Kids’, a campaigning film for The International Planned Parenthood Federation, has won an IVCA (International Video and Communication) Clarion Award in the Charity and Social Enterprise category, beating stiff competition from major campaigning organisations.
Shot in one day in east London with a diverse cast of nine young people, the film covers a range of topical issues including: access to sexual and reproductive health services for young people, rape, gender-based violence, stigma and HIV, living with a disability and sex trafficking.

09.25.12
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Birthday bash with SRHR, how do you make it?

What will you usually do during your birthday celebration? If it’s a party, then it might be just another party, but YSNAP members in Samoa have done it differently!

Samoa Family Health Association were conducting some activities during IPPF 60th anniversary. These activities were a lot of fun and meaningful! Leiloa, youth representative from Samoa told this story to us!

There was a speech competition between 14 high school on any Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights related topics. Leiloa said that even it was just one day activity but she received a lot of great comments from the parents and the audience for the program she has done.

Furthermore, in the forum that SRHR issues are hard to talk in families but as each school representative presented, they really understand and won the hearts of the audience especially the parents.

“I was also saying that we planned to do a year book as a present for the IPPF but unfortunately timing is not perfect for my peers so I keep their ideas for future activity,” said Leiloa enthusiastically.

Thank you so much, Leiloa for presenting this story to us, we are really looking forward to other stories from Samoa!! 😀

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