Prevention against AIDS continues

Based on communication between young people, peer education is an approach that serves to bring about change at the individual level by attempting to modify their knowledge, attitudes, or behaviours. In the fight against AIDS, this concept is even more relevant, given its facilitated communicative aspect. In this context, the Al-Qods Youth Centre in Fez hosted the 2nd edition of the National Forum of Peer Educators in the field of the fight against AIDS from 18 to 20 May. Organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, this forum was themed: "Supervision of AIDS prevention clubs within youth centres".

According to Abdelmounaim Bouâmama, a member of the Moroccan Network of Peer Educators, "Young people are often the primary sources of information for their peers, who automatically turn to them when they have problems. And in the context of the fight against AIDS, it has turned out that young people are best placed to raise awareness among their peers about the dangers of this disease and influence their behaviour. It is a simple concept that many actors in the fight against AIDS deem effective for combating this epidemic," he specified.

The forum saw the participation of around a hundred young peer educators representing the different Moroccan regions, as well as several associative actors and artists. For Yacine Bellarab, Head of the Youth Section at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, this type of meeting is of great importance as it constitutes a space for exchange and discussion between ministerial officials and active young people, mobilised for a human cause, such as the fight against AIDS. "These open debates have allowed us to listen to the proposals of these young people and to get ideas to raise the level of our AIDS prevention clubs, a disease that affects more and more young Moroccans. It is a question of further raising awareness among young people and preventing them from this devastating condition. And in fact, in addition to the important role of peer educators, we are thinking of transmitting prevention messages through other methods that are simpler and closer to young people, whether through cinema, theatre, or music," he explained. Furthermore, this forum also constituted an occasion to present to the Fez public the artistic creations of the AIDS prevention clubs of the youth centres. Creations including short films, theatrical plays, plastic arts productions, as well as concerts and musical performances.

Provider / Source : Afaf Razouki, Le Matin