As the first International AIDS Conference (IAC) ever held in Latin America, the XVII Mexico International AIDS Conference, “AIDS 2008″ will bring together 25,000 researchers, decision-makers, and advocates from around the world to collaborate and share in an effort to strengthen our global responses to HIV and AIDS, from August 3-8, 2008.

Young people – especially young women – are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. Young people under 25 represent almost half of new HIV infections occurring annually. However, we are often excluded and marginalized in the global response, despite international commitments such as the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS which explicitly state young people’s right to participate.

The IAC is a crucial opportunity for youth to influence decision-makers and to scale up their involvement in international forums. Toward this end, the YouthForce has been a vital component for hundreds of youth during the 2002 IAC, the 2004 Bangkok IAC, and the 2006 Toronto IAC.

The Mexico YouthForce will be holding a 3 week long e-consultation from Monday, March 3 to Friday, March 21, to develop an advocacy message and visibility strategy for AIDS2008. Outcomes of the e-consultation will feed into visibility materials such as t-shirts, posters, stickers, and banners. Young people will be trained on how to advocate for these messages effectively through advocacy and media workshops during the Youth Pre-Conference (July 31, August 1 and 2) and during the Main Conference.

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This EC will include opinions of young people who will and will not be at the conference. Additionally, EC participants will be asked to consult with their peers who are non-ICT connected (without access to internet) to include their opinions on what issues need to be included.

*The e-consultation has the following objectives:*

1) To brainstorm and develop action-oriented advocacy messages
2) To develop an advocacy strategy and materials based on the decided
messages

The e-consultation will be hosted by TakingItGlobal (TIG) and aims to include the voices of as many young people involved in HIV/AIDS
interventions as possible. Young people ages 15 – 30 are urged to participate. Instructions for the consultation will be posted on the TIG
site and emailed to the group. You must have regular internet access throughout the 3 weeks to contribute to the discussions.

*SIGN UP HERE: http://groups.takingitglobal.org/MYF08consult*