Listening to the voices of young people is one of the major themes of the post-2015 development agenda, but does this include a diversity of voices?
Listening to the voices of young people is one of the major themes of the UN post-2015 development agenda. Maybe we are advancing too in allowing young people into the leadership picture. But before we give ourselves a final clap, let’s analyse whether we really accept diversity.
The society we picture in all its colours still ignores some faces: men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, injecting drug users and people living with HIV – especially young people aged between 10 and 24.
A new Photo Voice, project in Dhaka, Bangladesh, addresses this issue. Through the project, 11 young people from these groups most affected by HIV, have been given a digital camera and trained in its use. This gives them a way of making their voices heard by clicking the realities of their lives.
Photo Voice is part of the Link Up project, a multi-country initiative led by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. It links up young people with proper processes of inclusion through service delivery, advocacy and other societal change programmes.
Picturing discrimination
During the training, which took place in March, I spoke to Greg Gray, regional advisor to Link Up in Asia, Dr Hasina Karim of Health and Social Action Bureau (HASAB) and Rokonol Rabbi from Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA).
Greg informed me that giving the young people digital cameras as gifts, and providing them with training, will pay back as they become skilled amateur photographers. This will enable them to capture their living situations in a more realistic way than professional photographers.
Manisha, 24, a young girl living with HIV, says: “I will picture those discriminatory situations that I, and others like me, have to go through every single day to get proper treatment in family, society or workplace.”
Robin, 24, a man who has sex with men, says: “This camera is an asset for me and my community; I will use it to capture voices of young men who have sex with men. This will help society to understand that we are the same as others, and people should not discriminate against us just because of a different choice of sexuality.”
Opening people’s eyes
The Photo Voice trainers hope these 11 lenses will open the eyes of Bangladeshi society and the state by publishing photos taken by these young people at an exhibition space in Dhaka in a couple of months’ time. They want to hold all those involved in the HIV response to their promises to work with young people most at risk from HIV and accept their lifestyles.
They also hope that capturing the real picture of their lifestyles will be a key to unlock discriminatory behaviour and negligence in service delivery, which are major barriers to reducing HIV/AIDS risk factors in the country.
It is high time to stop ignoring young people most affected by HIV and discriminating against them. We need to look at the realities they live with, accept their lifestyles and choices and understand that they deserve our respect and support. Let us not forget them in the big picture.
Disclaimer: The names used for quotes by young people are not their real names.
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