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| Kennedy Pemberton of the St. Kitts-Nevis Youth Parliament Association (SKNYPA) |
Basseterre, St. Kitts (July 22, 2004): An active young man is set to lead his organisation's fight against the dreaded HIV/AIDS.
Kennedy Pemberton of the St. Kitts-Nevis Youth Parliament Association (SKNYPA) said he is energised after attending the Oxfam International Youth Parliament recently held in Sydney, Australia.
“My action area (at Oxfam IYP) was for HIV/AIDS,” he said. “We were looking at formulating and adopting action plans geared towards preventing the spread (of the disease) and also dealing with the care and treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS.”
A unique concept developed by a delegate from India looked at the development of board games to address persons living with the disease and the other for persons affected by it. The main focus of this game is education. Another concept featured making complicated terms and words more understandable by using colloquial language. This was proposed by a representative from Africa.
Mr. Pemberton indicated that some of the creative ideas will be used in the strategy to combat the virus locally. However, the main focus will stress prevention.
“We are looking at peer to peer education (to) relate to young people and help clear up some of the misconceptions that young people may have about ... sexual preferences and HIV/AIDS. In that way it is sort of a proactive measure to prevent and curtail the spread of HIV/AIDS,” the youth representative stressed.
Abstinence is one part of a three-section plan that Mr. Pemberton intends to use to achieve his goal. “It is something that we don’t like to hear about, it is something that is hard to practice but ... that also needs to be addressed and not be overlooked.”
The plan also calls for persons to “be faithful” and condomize. This strategy is known as the “A,B,Cs of HIV/AIDS prevention and is being touted in international circles by countries such as the United States.
The SKNYPA member said his organisation will be implementing a two-year action plan to implement the action plans from the Oxfam IYP - involving peer to peer fora, panel discussions and consultations with stakeholders.
The Ministries of Information, Culture, Youth and Sport as well as Tourism, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, also private corporations such as American Airlines, The Cable and the Bank of Nevis were credited for their contributions in making the trip possible.
Gratitude was further expressed to S. L. Horsford, Mrs. Hazel Ross Robinson, Mr. Fadil Imo, Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor and Hon. Rupert Herbert.
