Washington DC Youth Force Day 2

The second day of the YouthForce conference gave participants the chance to mingle some more and exchange different ideas and good practices. The day began with session on advocacy and messaging, specifically tailored for the environment of AIDS 2012. The YouthForce advocacy committee shared in detail the 3 main messages of YouthForce and the way they should translate into action during the conference. 

 

As part of the session Will Neville and Rechel Cooke gave advice and tips on working with the general public and the media.

The importance of having a strong personal story and honest approach was highlighted. Body language and vocabulary used are a key factor and in a number of countries, including the USA, the existence of strong opposition groups means advocates need to be weary of secret recording and the danger of having your statement taken out of context or misquoted. All participants were encouraged to have an ‘elevator speech’ prepared in their sleeve so they can easily present themselves and their mission at the conference for about a minute.

 One of the sessions we particularly liked was “The effect of global politics and pharmaceutical power on access to medicines”. It is a topic which we do not engage in so often but is of great importance, affects the lives of many people and it is part of the holistic services package we wish to see in the world. Here is a short video that was presented and can introduce you to the topic:

  

At the end of the day, Annaïs and Maya held a session on Social Media and SRHR.  

The workshop firstly reviewed the development of social media and how it affects communication and the lives of young people. We looked at several case studies of SRHR being brought to the media and the responses it inspired. The session provided participants with a set of guiding questions to help young people build and develop a SRHR campaign through social media and offered YSAFE’s experience in running the IHBG Project. Chech out our IHBG Blog for some inspiting links and examples of SRHR on the web.

 

Srhr via Social media from jauatkales

The Hijacked Session 

The positive experience we had during the youth pre-conference was slightly shadowed by a shocking intrusion in our own session. While, as a wrap up, we encouraged participants to share their personal experience with social media and the challenges and benefits they found, one of the youth delegates and a member of the organizing sub-committees decided it is appropriate to interrupt the discussion and singlehandedly rant on social media while taking up the stage. The rant continued for half an hour, halted audience participation while mostly covering tips and information already given in the session. We felt, this was highly disrespectful to both us as presenters and the audience as active participants in the session. As we hadn’t had any previous experience with such situations, so we found ourselves quite shocked and puzzled. We tried to be respectful and avoid a conflict, especially at such an event that is aimed at bringing youth together. After the session, we expressed our and the audience’s frustration with the individual and subsequently received an apology and a promise it won’t happen again. We really hope that all youth conferences are a place we all respect each-other and our work.

We are not sure we had the best responce either so we thought about possible reactions to such a situation an here are some of our tips:

- Listen to the person and find the key message they want to convey. 

-Try to engage them with other members of the audience.

- Integrate their point into the session topic and reclaim the position of a moderator. 

- If all of those do not work, keep calm and politely ask the participant to step down.

- Don’t make a scene.

- Share your views with the individual in private and explain what are the reasons why you find their behaviour inappropriate/offensive/disrespectful/counter-productive. 

- Be firm but respectful.

We will be glad to hear from you and learn from your experience with such situations.