Circle of Hope: Children's Rights in a World with AIDS

"Children and adolescents understand the real-life challenges faced by young people. And they know how best to communicate the message to their own generation. That is why Plan believes children should be in the driving seat of its responses to HIV and AIDS..."

This 50-page report poses a challenge to communication practitioners: Educating young people about how HIV is transmitted, and telling them how to avoid infection, is not enough. Published by the international children's organisation Plan, the report is based on the observation that adolescents in the developing world are being denied the right to protect themselves from AIDS due to social, economic and cultural realities that prevent them from being able to make responsible sexual behaviour choices. It details how adolescents in low-income countries struggle with a daily conflict between behaviour change messages promoting sexual abstinence, faithfulness, or condom use, on the one hand, and the realities that severely limit their choices of adopting these behaviours (such as cultural norms that force many girls into child marriages, the economic necessity that forces other girls into trading sexual favours, and the intense pressure on boys in many societies to show their masculinity by being abusive to girls and practicing unsafe sex), on the other. That is, tradition, gender inequality, and social relationships severely limit the choices young people can make. In this context, the "choice" to be sexually responsible may not be a viable one, as illustrated by adolescents taking risks even when they are well informed about HIV and AIDS: "When the only choice you have is the chance you might catch AIDS and die in a few years time, or the certainty of starving to death in a few weeks, there is no choice."

Plan argues in this report that - fortunately - young people understand these and other barriers to safe behaviour, and are much more likely than older age groups to accept and adopt social change. Thus, it is vital for children and young people to play a central, participatory role in leading the response in their communities. In Brazil, for example, Plan works with groups of adolescent boys to decrease gender violence and help them adopt safer sexual behaviour. Drawing on entertaining and interactive activities such as games, drama, and group discussions, the groups explore common beliefs and attitudes (for instance, that men have more sexual urges than women, that sexual and reproductive health issues are women's concerns, and that men have the right to multiple partners while women do not). Plan claims that, at the outset, the boys' opinions and perceptions overwhelmingly reflect the prejudices of the macho culture in which they are growing up but that, by the end of the programme, many of the boys speak of how their attitudes and behaviour have changed.

Plan stresses that the international community must shift the focus of its AIDS programmes away from finding the right "weapons" or drugs to fight AIDS to understanding that AIDS is a complex social phenomenon. This implies the need to undertake research to understand the deep-seated reasons why people, especially young people, behave as they do. Plan says that in order to be effective in the long term, programmes and policies for HIV prevention and care among children and young people should:

• address the social, economic and cultural factors that underpin sexual behaviour
• meet the priority needs of the majority of children in the community
• give children and young people an active role in identifying key issues, determining priorities, and implementing the response.

Consistent with this strategy, Plan first adopted a policy for children affected by AIDS in 1996 and - 10 years later - has developed a new framework called Circle of Hope. Central to this framework is a philosophy that "starts with the rights of children and addresses these rights in a manner that is both comprehensive and appropriate to the child's context. The Circle of Hope applies the practice of child-centred community development", which involves listening to what children have to say about their needs and concerns and what is preventing them from achieving their rights. This strategy also centres around encouraging and enabling children to take an active - even leading - role in finding solutions to the problems they face. To support this process, and in an effort to ensure its sustainability, Plan works with communities and national and international institutions to promote greater awareness and understanding of children's rights.

Within the report is a graphic that illustrates the Circle of Hope philosophy. At the centre are girls and boys, whose needs, rights and entitlements govern Plan's responses to AIDS. Surrounding the children are the institutions responsible for protecting the rights
of children and for delivering essential services. Plan asserts that these institutions (e.g., families, governments, global organisations) have a duty toward children, but may also be in need of assistance and support to be able to fulfil this duty.
The 4 sides that frame the circle represent the continuum of strategic objectives that orient Plan's work; within each of these areas there are programmes that have specific objectives - for instance, to promote youth-friendly health and social services, to strengthen self-help groups of people living with HIV, or to facilitate children's access to medical treatment. (A variety of programme examples are provided to illustrate how this framework plays out "on the ground.")

Advocacy and international partnerships are key strategic directions within this framework. With regard to the former (advocacy), "Plan's advocacy message is clear and consistent: Services, programs and policies for HIV and AIDS prevention and care among children should be developed in consultation with children, should meet the priority needs of the majority of children in the community, and should be delivered equitably and without discrimination." With regard to the latter (partnership), the global public education and social mobilisation event Lesson for Life is one "highly successful" example used to illustrate a strategy for "raising the visibility of children in the international response to AIDS, and in engaging children in the process. It has helped build many vibrant national networks and coalitions that have successfully mobilised children in schools and non-formal education settings..." (click here for a summary of Lesson for Life).