Youth Day: APYIN calls for inclusiveness in policy formulation

The Association of Positive Youth Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (APYIN) has called on the federal and state governments including relevant authorities to as a matter of priority engage youth in policy and decision making for effective development.

Senior programme officer of APYIN, Mr. Edward Ogiji, made the call Wednesday at a briefing organised to mark the International Youth Day organised by the United Nations, with the theme; Youth engagement for global action.

APYIN marked the day in conjunction with Women Living with AIDS and Education, calling on the government to ensure total involvement of the youth and adolescent as it is not enough to listen without granting active participation in the development policies.

Ogiji said Nigeria cannot achieve any meaningful development without enabling the youth, adding that there is a need to support the young people in meaningful engagement and commitments.

“They think more of solutions rather than problems and these untapped potentials can be useful for political, economic, climate change and health development.

“As regards health issues, many young people are not allowed to make health decisions on their own even though they suffer the impact directly.

“Youth participation has to be diverse as young people are of diverse background from the educated to the non- educated, the infected with HIV and those not infected. Though the high level knowledge may be inadequate but the expertise or experience may really count and make the change we are looking for,” he said.

Ogiji further stated that there is need to go beyond not too young to run to  not too young to decide, adding that a paradigm shift is required as neglect of the youth will  cause more harm than good.

“There is nothing wrong with seeking consent from one’s parents, what we are saying is that some of these decisions could be taken by the young people. 

“The issue of contraceptive has gained a lot of debate even though abortion is on a high increase. It is still frowned at and most youth are denied when they ask for it. This sometimes makes them end up making bad decisions or approaching non professionals which sometimes led to their demise,” he stated.

In her remarks, Faith Onuh of Education as a Vaccine, said the youth day commemoration was a wakeup call to the government to support the youth for a shift in the right direction.

“The people that need these services are not given the right to access it and that makes them turn around to get these services in an unsafe environment.

“For example, when they go to purchase condoms, they are turned back, yet it is a known fact that these young ones engage in sexual activities,” she said.

A youth advocate for APYIN, David Olawu, reiterated the need for youth engagement as it will create a unique insight and perspective and make HIV enlightenment a success as well as provide an all inclusive process which will bring the government and the youth together.

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