CYP, A ray of hope.

In July 2008, UNYPA in Collaboration with CYP Africa started implementing the Young Ambassadors for Positive Living (YAPL) programme in Uganda. The YAPL programme is working with young people (aged 10 – 24) to improve their knowledge and provide life skills, so they can be better prepared. Informed and skilled young people are better able to avoid risky situations that arise with age.

Through the YAPL Uganda programme, UNYPA focuses on young people because this provides greater opportunities for reaching both in and out of school youth who often face a time of heightened sexual vulnerability and crucial decision making, particularly about sexual experiences. This vulnerability puts young people, especially girls, at risk of unintended pregnancies, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Prevention education therefore may be most successful when it starts before sexual debut. The YAPL Uganda programme strengthens the young people’s life skills so that they are better prepared to handle the transition to adulthood including in communication.

UNYPA looks forward to reaching more young people with HIV prevention information through an action-oriented and learning-by-doing approach; building the capacity of young positives to control re-infection, transmission, promote voluntary disclosure and adhere to treatment; and address the intersection between Gender Based Violence and HIV/AIDS among young positives in Conflict and Post Conflict Situations in northern Uganda in our second year.

UNYPA was established in 2003 to provide leadership for young men and women living with HIV/AIDS to basically create an enabling environment to participate meaningfully in the national development.