Being Young at Bali

Being Young at Bali
- Ador L. Hurtado, WARAYA/FPOP and UNFPA Philippines YAP
Bali Youth Force Media Committee Member


The youth today make up nearly half of our population, the biggest so far in history. The youth comprise an important demographic cohort in the global population. They are also one of the most vulnerable and yet their potential for helping solve the issues that they face is so vast. What happens to our young today will have an impact on their future and that of our society.

Being one of the youth scholars in the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) has been so far a great and memorable experience. Apart from being a member of the Bali Youth Force, the first in the history of ICAAP to gather a coalition of young people from countries across Asia and the Pacific, and being a Youth Advocate from the Philippines where youth activism is evident, it pays to see fellow youth advocates from varied cultures and colors waving HIV and AIDS advocacy aimed at ensuring a meaningful youth participation during the congress. Experiencing Bali and Indonesian culture, which has been my first visit to the “Land of the Thousand Faces”, meeting Filipino-like faces with warm smiles and hellos, and savoring sweets and spices has made me realize that indeed Asia is a region of vast possibilities.

HIV and AIDS advocacy in Indonesia, like any other country from the Asia and Pacific region, is similar. In the same way as any country struggling to eliminate the stigma and discrimination along with the cultural and social issues that are seemingly difficult hurdles to leap, has made it doubly difficult for both the government and the civil society to reach out those living and affected as well other most at-risk to HIV and AIDS in offering them the treatment, care and support they need and deserve. The story of our youth organization WARAYA or Waray-Waray Youth Advocates, being one of youth arm of one the 25 chapters of FPOP or Family Planning Organization of the Philippines, which I shared during the Track entitled, “Progressive Youth Initiative” last August 11, 2009 is one of the opportunities for a youth advocate like me to share our experience and lessons learned from our side of the world. Consequently, it is an equally immense chance to network with other youth-serving and youth-led organizations and learn their stories, opportunities and realizing that it is indeed a small world. Hearing the experiences of fellow youth organizations in China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Brunei Darussalam made me feel secured that we are not alone in the advocacy for the rights of young people specifically on Adolescent Sexuality and Reproductive Health and Rights with stress on HIV and AIDS. Although we must not be complacent, youth advocacy and promoting for young people’s rights to be heard and be involved is not a weeklong dream but a process.

It makes a lot of sense to invest in the education and development of young people as they are also tomorrow’s adults. When we invest in our young, we also fulfil our responsibility to nurture a caring and responsible society. When we invest in our young, we are investing in our future. When we create the environment that will allow them to make responsible choices and to exercise their sexual and reproductive health and rights, we are solving the problem of the spread of HIV and STIs/STDs, of unwanted pregnancy and early marriage and even of abortion. We are laying the ground for them to found families and to be responsible parents of the future.

The youth comprise an important demographic cohort in the global population. They are also one of the most vulnerable and yet their potential for helping solve the issues that they face is so vast. What happens to our young today will have an impact on their future and that of our society.