African Youth HIV/AIDS Best Practices Handbook

This handbook profiles 95 youth-led and youth-focused HIV/AIDS projects from 25 countries in Africa. It is intended to highlight the work of African youth to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, and to provide best practices examples that can be replicated in Africa and globally. The handbook aims to encourage further education and prevention efforts, promote African youth leadership to curb the pandemic, and create as well as sustain opportunities for the participation of African youth in local, national, regional, and international efforts to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS. The handbook includes examples of youth projects that use the arts, media, and information and communication technology (ICT), as well as some projects created and implemented with adult allies.

The handbook is a joint initiative of Development Partnership International, ActALIVE, and the Standing Committee on Reproductive Health of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations. The initiative is meant to address a lack of information about how HIV/AIDS is affecting youth in Africa. According to the publishers, reports, fact sheets, and analysis often do not include such information, and very little is said about the efforts of young people in their communities. It is hoped that the handbook will also serve as resource for young people, programme developers, governments, and civil society organisations working in the area of HIV/AIDS and reproductive health.

The best practices were selected and edited by a team from the three collaborating organisations through a simple application process. Calls for best practices were sent across various networks, both youth and adult. In some cases youth who had been identified to be doing outstanding work in the areas of sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention were contacted to submit their projects.