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Costa
Rica:
Ambitious
Youth
HIV
Project
Reaping
Results
José
is a
young
AIDS
peer
educator
in
the
Costa
Rican
port
city
of
Limon
and
he
is
proud
to
share
HIV
prevention
messages
and
tips
on
how
to
stay
healthy
with
other
young
people.
“It’s
really
great
to
see
how
at
the
end
of a
session
the
group
knows
more
about
HIV.
We
also
have
a
better
idea
of
how
to
protect
ourselves
and
deal
with
our
relationships
more
successfully,”
he
said.
As
one
of
more
than
80
peer
educators,
between
the
ages
of
18
and
24,
José
is
taking
part
in
an
ambitious
HIV
prevention
project
in
the
cities
of
Limon
and
Puntarenas,
which
are
among
the
most
affected
by
the
virus
in
Costa
Rica.
The
educators
have
gone
through
extensive
training
and
can
provide
educational
and
communication
materials
and
tools
to
their
counterparts
in a
lively
and
informative
way.
The
three-year
program
which
began
at
the
end
of
2008
is
called
Friendly
education
and
health
services
to
promote
healthy
lifestyles
and
prevent
HIV
and
AIDS—or
Giro
180
for
short.
Supported
by
UNAIDS,
the
program
is
managed
by
its
cosponsors
the
UN
Development
Program
(UNDP),
the
UN
Children’s
Fund
(UNICEF),
and
the
UN
Population
Fund
(UNFPA).
The
UN
bodies
work
alongside
the
country’s
Vice-Ministry
of
Youth
and
the
National
Council
on
Public
Policy
for
Youth.
The
peer
educators
themselves
have
developed
a
number
of
the
interventions,
including
using
online
games
that
feature
questionnaires
on
HIV
risk
and
a
Facebook
page.
Youth
carnivals
and
community
fairs,
board
game
evenings
and
artistic,
musical
and
recreational
activities
are
also
being
used.
“We
did
a
fair
in
Villa
Plata,
a
very
poor
place,”
said
Deiker,
a
youth
promoter
in
Limon.
“We
gave
out
information,
played
and
had
fun.
We
were
there,
sharing
experiences
with
the
boys
from
morning
till
evening.
And
in
the
end
the
guys
didn’t
want
to
leave.”
As
well
as
providing
young
people
with
HIV
information
and
life
skills
to
make
informed
choices,
the
project
also
seeks
to
build
the
capacity
of
healthcare
and
educational
institutions
to
attain
these
goals
in a
protective
environment.
Some
73
000
adolescents
in
the
two
cities
aged
between
13
and
18
are
the
main
beneficiaries
and
young
people
from
around
the
country
are
also
indirectly
benefiting
from
the
political
and
institutional
advocacy
and
information
campaigns
launched
by
the
project.
Such
information
campaigns
are
vital
in a
country
where
a
2008
study
carried
out
by
UNFPA
and
UNICEF,
with
support
from
UNAIDS,
found
that
the
majority
of
young
people
in
Costa
Rica
were
sexually
active
by
the
age
of
16.
The
same
study
showed
that
fewer
than
30%
of
young
people
in
Limon
and
17%
in
Puntarenas
knew
how
to
use
a
condom
correctly.
However,
things
are
changing.
The
program
has
led
to
an
increase
in
commitment
from
government
authorities
and
decision
makers.
A
number
of
local
and
regional
institutions,
such
as
the
Department
of
Health
in
Limon,
have
committed
themselves
to
broadening
youth-friendly
HIV
services.
In
Puntarenas,
schools
have
adopted
the
‘Giro
Junior’
intervention,
dedicated
to
the
development
of
specific
strategies
to
challenge
HIV,
with
guidance
and
support
centers.
The
regional
Ministry
of
Public
Education
has
also
prepared
a
set
of
guidelines
for
HIV
prevention
in
schools,
which
will
be
binding
throughout
the
region.
The
team
spearheading
the
program
hopes
that
it
will
become
a
flagship
model.
For
at
least
one
of
the
peer
educators,
Bizmark
from
Limon,
they
are
enjoying
making
waves,
“Older
people
might
be a
bit
scared
of
us
talking
so
openly,
widely
and
directly.
We
are
changing
lives
in
perhaps
the
only
way
people
can
change,
which
is
having
fun
while
learning.”
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