RTK - Jamaica Profile

Young people as a percentage of total population:
31% (age 10-24)

Percentage of young people living with HIV/AIDS:
Female –- 1%
Male -- 0.98%

RTK INITIATIVE STATUS
Phase I: Planning for RTK -- Completed
Phase II: Participatory Action Research -- Initiated; to be completed upon receipt of funding
Phase III: Research development and Implementation of Communication Strategy -- To be initiated 2003

PURPOSE
The primary goal of Right to Know is to plan and implement adolescent communication strategies that provide adolescents (both in school and out of school) with information and lifeskills for the prevention of HIV/AIDS, and to ensure adolescent participation in all aspects of planning and implementation.

PRIORITY ACTIVITIES, 2002-2003:
In order to increase access of young people to information and life skills development, priority activities will focus on decreasing the large disparity between knowledge and action/ behaviour through:

• Improving existing youth communications and supporting youth-led local action based on PAR process and findings.
• Improving coordination and collaboration between agencies for more efficient service delivery and resource allocation.
• Increased focus on the influence of adolescents in communication efforts.
• Improved gender sensitive programming, with a focus on reaching boys.
• Active programming to reach groups previously unreached: rural, employed, out-of-school youth, the illiterate, adolescents with disabilities and “non-joiners.”

Young girls at risk In Jamaica, young girls aged 10 to 14 are twice as likely, and girls 15-19 are three times as likely, to become infected with HIV than boys their same age. Rates of sexual activity are high among young people. The Right to Know Initiative in Jamaica will be addressing the underlying causes of the disparity between the infection rates of boys and girls.

PARTNERS AND LINKAGES

• Social Solutions as the collaborating research institution;
• Children First, an NGO for street and working children, as the youth coordination group;
• Steering Committee comprised of youth, UN, and governmental, faith-based and NGO representatives.

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE

• RTK Orientation for Phase I, 22 Feb, 2002;
• RTK Orientation Phase II, 14-19 July;
• Phase II Work plan development by Social Solutions and youth;
• Implementation of the follow-up workshop, 8-9 August, 2002;
• First steering committee meeting, 12 August 2002;
• Implementation of the pre-field meetings for Phase II and III implementation 21-29 August 2002.
• Four research retreats conducted by the adolescent researchers with hard-to-reach teens Sep - Oct 2002.