Last month, I got the privilege of attending an inspiring training that was facilitated by Civic Democratic Foundation, a local Yemeni NGO.
The purpose of the workshop was to articulate and disseminate a clear framing of issues at the intersection of gender identity and sexuality; and to build and support a geographically-based cohort of youth that conduct community education and issue campaigns integrating gender justice and reproductive health.
In Yemen, topics of gender sexuality, HIV/AIDS, and reproductive health are taboo topics that are too often left ignored. Anything centered around the subject of sex is considered taboo, creating damaging myths that rarely gets challenged. But a remarkable exception seems to be emerging in Yemen. Y-Peer, a network of youth, has brought together local community members to achieve social justice and improve community education on gender identity, sexuality and reproductive health throughout Yemen.
These changemakers decided to abandon their individual agendas in favor of a collective approach to improving youth awareness and education for social justice. More than 300 youth agreed to participate in creating safe spaces to dicuss this information in a constructive, positive way.Check out the recent work of some Y-Peer members in their recent trip to Hodaida, Yemen. They use their voices to creatively foster nation wide conversations about promoting youth education, combatting hiv/aids and community empowerment.
I’m kinda in love. Are you?
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