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CrowdOutAIDS: crowdsourcing youth perspectives for action
Mikaela Hildebrand1, Claudia Ahumada, Sharon Watson
1UNAIDS, Geneva, Switzerland. hildebrandm@unaids.org
Reproductive Health Matters
|May 21, 2013
Summary
Young people want to improve AIDS decision-making by discussing sex openly and ending HIV stigma. This participatory project used online and offline forums to gather global youth perspectives for policy change.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Social Sciences
- Global Health Policy
Background:
- Engaging youth in policy is crucial for effective AIDS strategies.
- Previous approaches often failed to incorporate diverse youth perspectives.
- The United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) sought innovative methods for youth participation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a strategy for enhanced youth engagement in AIDS policy.
- To integrate youth perspectives into global AIDS decision-making processes.
- To explore the efficacy of participatory online and offline methods.
Main Methods:
- The CrowdOutAIDS project utilized participatory online policy development.
- Nine online forums engaged 3,497 young people (aged 15-29) from 79 countries.
- 39 offline forums, hosted by online volunteers, included an additional 1,605 participants.
Main Results:
- Youth identified key issues: changing conversations around sex and relationships, implementing comprehensive sexuality education, and overcoming social taboos.
- Recommended priorities included dispelling sexual taboos, eliminating HIV-related stigma, and removing social/legal barriers.
- Six strategic actions focused on leadership skills, participation, information access, networks, outreach, and financial support.
Conclusions:
- Social media and crowdsourcing can effectively integrate global grassroots youth perspectives into policy.
- This participatory model offers a new approach to youth engagement and mobilization in public health.
- Further exploration of these methods is recommended for community empowerment and effective AIDS response.
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