Inter-agency Task Team (IATT) on YKPs AP Launch COVID-19 Resources Website

The IATT on YKPs launches a new website to highlight young people’s leadership in response to COVID-19 across Asia and the Pacific. 

The Interagency Task Team on Young Key Populations (IATT on YKPs) in the Asia Pacific, with support from Youth LEAD, UNAIDS, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office and UNDP, is delighted to announce the launch of its new website www.ykptaskteam.org 

The goal with this new website is to gather and pool together available information and guidance on COVID-19 that cater to young key populations (YKPs) and young people living with HIV (PLHIV) from Asia and the Pacific. This platform will serve as an online resource to document and communicate on the challenges YKPs face in the pandemic as well as their approaches in identifying gaps, solutions and innovations in their responses to COVID-19. Navigating the different sections of the page, you will also find analysis of the findings from COVID-19 and YKP surveys, resources available for YKPs, stories and lived experiences from young people across the region.

The new website is creative, interactive and youth-friendly. IATT partners will be updating the content with articles, newsletters and stories on the YKP Projects and Stories page, which highlights youth-led initiatives and outlines the value created for the communities across the region. 

Highlights From the Website

YKP Surveys and Findings

To better respond to the needs and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic towards YKPs and young people living with HIV, the IATT on YKPs initiated a rapid survey covering Asia and the Pacific and were translated into Thai, Burmese, and Bahasa Indonesia. Similar surveys have also been conducted in other countries in the region. This page highlights key findings from different surveys conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdowns, as well as analyses on several aspects and focus areas of these surveys, such as access to HIV information and services, access to COVID-19 information and services, mental health and well-being, socio-economic impact, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health services, and social protection.

“The IATT on YKPs has worked on a set of blogs that analyze the results of the YKP surveys and highlight the impact of the pandemic in terms of access to mental health services and social protection schemes We are now promoting the blogs as advocacy tools for a multisectoral response to COVID-19,” informs Michela Polesana, UNAIDS Advocacy Adviser for Asia and the Pacific. 

YKP-Led Initiatives and Projects

YKPs and young people are at the forefront of the COVID-19 response. “Improving efficiency by co-delivering HIV/SRH with relevant health and other services as part of the essential services and information for adolescents/young people and deploying interventions across multiple platforms such as health facilities, schools, e-health, mobile health/social media and community-based initiatives is critical at this time,” says Shirley Mark Prabhu, Regional HIV/AIDS Specialist, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office.

Youth leaders and organisations alike, are rallying together to support communities in need. The YKP Projects and Stories page showcases many examples of where young people and youth organisations are implementing programmes at the country level, across Asia and the Pacific. The YKP Projects and Stories page highlights many initiatives led by young people, for young people and how YKPs are active in the response. Also, on this sub-page, you will find stories and testimonies from youth leaders and their involvement in the COVID-19 response. The YKP Projects and Stories page will regularly be updated to reflect where projects are being implemented across the region by IATT on YKPs partners. 

Resources

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In the last couple of months, IATT partners pulled together a collection of COVID-19 related resources for young key populations and young people living with HIV. They gathered resources internally and from partners to help provide guidance on what young people can do to look after themselves and their communities during COVID-19. In this section, you would find links to different categories that will provide you with detailed information on existing resources. Ultimately, this section aims to strengthen the collection of best practices and strategic information on young key populations during COVID-19 and promote its use for evidence-informed programming.

“I help manage the YKP COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund and have seen the incredible achievements made by young people during COVID-19. I think it's important to showcase youth-led initiatives and give recognition to youth leaders who are active in the response. I hope young people and more importantly, young key populations find this website useful but also see it as a token of appreciation for their relief efforts,” says Eddy Rudram, Communications Officer at Youth LEAD who supported the development of the website with the help of young people. 

For any questions, feedback or comments about the website, please contact the IATT on YKPs at interagencytaskteam@gmail.com. 

Visit: www.ykptaskteam.org