A group of young women living with HIV supported by The International Community of Women Living with HIV Eastern Africa (ICWEA) got together for a three day training workshop in advocacy, communication and human rights.
With technical support from ICWEA staff, the young women reviewed the advocacy strategy of the young women living with HIV so as to understand and own the process.
They were also skilled on how to do advocacy and update on the HIV&AIDS state of the country while highlighting the advocacy opportunities available. This would help inform the young women’s advocacy.
There was also a session on human rights since knowing one’s rights and those of ours is key in advocacy. And because communications is an important aspect in any advocate’s work, the young women learnt about the media processes, public speaking and how to package messages so that they can attract media attention among other things.
The training format was in such a way that the young women living with HIV worked in groups from time to time. This allowed for interaction and learning from one another given the diversity in advocacy levels of the women.
The young women living with HIV shared their challenges which included; stigma and discrimination, not knowing the right people to approach, fear to freely express themselves, low self-esteem, self-stigma and worry that they will not be taken seriously.
As the workshop was being ended, the young women shared that they had learnt from each other’s experiences since the training brought together young women from different walks of life. They also shared that they learnt how to use social media and that most importantly it is their duty to speak out when their rights or those of others are being violated.
