Sport for HIV/AIDS advocacy

I led a Sport for Development and Peace and HIV/AIDS advocacy session at International AIDS Conference 2022 Montreal Canada's Global Youth Village. The main objective of the session was to build the capacity of young leaders on the topic of HIV/AIDS advocacy through sport for development and peace campaigns.

It taught young leaders how they can develop safe sports spaces to engage young people to talk about HIV/AIDS-related issues, without external threats. In addition, they learned how people living with HIV/AIDS could be included in societies by promoting equality, acceptance, and belonging through team-based sports activities. They also experienced how sport could be used to reduce the disease anxiety of people living with HIV/AIDS. 

The session was organized by the Montreal Youth Force, operated by Lets Stops AIDS Canada and the International AIDS society, in support of Kafka Welfare Organization Pakistan.

The findings of research by Kafka Welfare Organization found: “Young people living with HIV/AIDS have been facing discrimination by their societies. Youth is not free to talk about HIV/AIDS and contraception. The reasons are societal, cultural barriers, taboos, and prejudice.”

The session also taught young activists how they could use sports for effective HIV/AIDS campaigning. The focus was on teaching inclusion through sport. It helped reduce discrimination against youth living with HIV/AIDS and LGBT youth. The power of soccer could be used to unite youth and remove differences.

During the session, young people experienced inclusion and a discrimination-free environment. They learned how sports help to overcome different HIV/AIDS factors, which include sociological factors, psychological factors, economic factors, and political factors. They got an opportunity to critique youth engagement through sport and young activists designed small activities in groups during the session to implement their learning. 

Through the workshop, the participants learned a deep understanding of how to use sports to make their HIV/AIDS campaigns more effective. They designed sports activities during the session, which will be followed up later by facilitators.

The session beneficiaries were young people (aged 24 and below) representing youth living (or affected) with HIV/AIDS, young HIV/AIDS activists, and LGBT youth.

The session consisted of three parts. One facilitator presented theory in the first part of the session, and the second facilitator highlighted sport for development and peace in the global movement. In the third section, a discussion was initiated on the learning and future follow-up of the workshop.