Sex happens - A workshop
They are from three different continents, and have their background in different organizations, but have now come together to find a way to work together to reach a common goal.
The workshop was held for 25 youth organisations working for sexual and reproductive health and rights, often referred to as SRHR. Supporters, in addition to Norad, are the development organisations Restless Development, International Women’s Health Coalition and UNAIDS.
Finding a common platform
- This workshop helps us to connect, and realize that we are together, although we have our own areas of interest. We work under one umbrella, Garcia says. Cram chimes in:
- We need a common plan if we are to navigate the technical minefield that is the UN, and how we lobby. How do we work on the ground? Young people need to be involved so that we can hold our governments accountable for what they promise in the development goals.
A common focus is necessary to have a good campaign, and there has been a lot of work these past three days, to find the key issues that unites all the organisations. They have now agreed upon two focus areas, namely comprehensive sexuality education, and youth friendly services. Lumumba elaborates:
- If young people know their rights, they will be accessing, hopefully, the services available. That is why they need to be better. We need services that targets adolescents specifically. Development work has been focused around children and mothers, but we need to address the health and sexuality issues that comes between childhood and adulthood.
What do we take home?
The campaign is in the making, with the name “Sex happens”, which addresses the head in the sand approach many governments have to adolescent sexuality. However, this campaign is only the beginning for these organisations. Garcia sums up the workshop like this:
- We have bridged the gaps, and with our collective expertise, we are going to make this a successful campaign. We have met wonderful minds, wonderful people. The method with this horizontal process have led to a professionalization and strengthening we bring back to our work.