I can’t believe this incredible journey is coming to an end
already. We had an entire day in the auditorium, all as one big family, for the
last day of 2012 YouthForce. We started off with an incredible panel of experts
from UNFPA, the White House, the Global Fund (to fight TB and AIDS), UNAIDS,
and Advocates for Youth. The panelists all gave a short presentation before the
room erupted with amazing and tough questions for our experts. I was honoured
to be in a room with such passionate and knowledgeable youth. The strength that
these young people delivered their demands to action and questions was
inspiring. I will always remember the way we all reacted to a great point or question,
how we challenged how money is delivered through irresponsible governments and
doesn’t reach our projects. You could feel the pain in these youth’s voices
while they delivered their frustrations at the disappointment in the donor
system, how this system they were told to believe in had let them down, time
and time again. Each representative felt our concerns and vowed to take our
messages back to their offices, leaving us feeling optimistic and powerful at
what we had accomplished by uniting our voices!
An afternoon session aimed to educate those who have never
attended an International AIDS Conference about what to expect and how to
navigate this massive convention. The IAC is the biggest conference in the
world, and Washington DC is expected to have over 20,000 people descend on it this
week for the conference. TWENTY THOUSAND!!! I can’t even imagine what this is
going to look like, I imagine it will be a bit overwhelming, I hope I don’t
lose my team!
A debriefing session and closing remarks by UNFPA and
YouthForce 2012 officially (and sadly!) ended. I can’t believe the whirlwind
that was this pre-conference! The 3 days flew by and we met so many amazing
people and learned so much from each other. Goodbye friends, see you around the
Youth Pavillion and AIDS 2012!! Much love from the Canadians.
- Caity
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