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Jacob Makambwe
Joined: Jan 5, 2005
Posts: 2 (view all)
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Country: Zambia
Province/State: Central
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VCT AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE IN CROSS BORDER TRADE IN ZAMBIA
October 19, 2009 - 05:44 AM
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Africa is faced with many economic challenges that have hampered development in the recent years. Some of the major challenges facing people in Africa is poverty, HIV/AIDS, unemployment and lack of decent work.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has negatively impacted on young people especially those that involved in the cross border trade, truck and bus drivers were the majority of young people have found employment
. Situation analysis:
A sad outcome of HIV/AIDS is the large number of children who become orphans when their parents succumb to the disease, adding to losing parents and financial security, these children must endure the stigma attached to AIDS. Extended families are either too poor to give assistance or are not willing to do so. Many of these drop out of school, some turn to prostitution and thus increase the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The most eminent challenge the young people involved in trade or cross border trade is to deal with the economic situation that has forced them to indulge in risk behavior such as:
• Sex for free border clearance
• Sex for free transportation of goods
• Sex for free accommodation and food in foreign countries they travel to do business. This has negatively impacted women especially who are mostly subjected to such immoral activities.
To mitigate the further spread of HIV/AIDS amongst young people in cross border trade and transport business AYINET has embarked on the BORDER TO BORDER VCT AND BEHAVIOR CHANGE COMMUNICATION HIV/AIDS AWARENESS PROJECT.
Rationale
The race for solutions to the problems of education and information for behavior change is being run on the same fast track as that of the attempts in the laboratories for possible vaccine/cure for HIV/AIDS. Many local and international organizations around the world over are coming out with new ideas, which fight for time and space to fit into the rapid societal changes of contemporary times, each with a sharp focus on helping a particular audience. Some of these initiatives have been designed for specific communities, in different settings which others have been designed to replicate in other communities with care being taken to deal with variations which may distort or make comprehensive certain messages.
Most of the programmes in the region have focused mainly on awareness among schools, working places and truck drivers by giving them information and ways on how they can protect themselves. The many challenges that young people in cross border trade face especially women due to HIV/AIDS cannot be overemphasized.
We call for partners in implementation of this enormous work.For more information contact Jacob Makambwe on ayinetgroup@gamil.com
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