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Category Archives: News
“Like” our new Facebook Page
GOJoven’s resource team has a new Facebook page. It will provide program updates and news; links to professional opportunities; photos and much more. This is a great way to stay in touch with the entire GOJoven family. Please check it out and “like” our new page.
http://www.facebook.com/gojoven.org
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Lemuel Vega participates in COP 17 Climate Change Youth Advisory Board in Durban, South Africa
Lemuel Vega (Mexico 2009) participated in the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 17) in Durban, South Africa as a member of Advocates for Youth’s (AFY) climate change youth advisory board. As a board member, Lemuel blogged about his experience at the conference, this included interviews with delegates from South Africa and Brazil on their work on climate change and sexual and reproductive rights. He also met with Christina Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFECC), regarding the feedback provided by several GOJoven Fellows on the COP 17 Global Youth Support Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Policy Statement.
During COP 17, Lemuel helped organize and implement an action on World AIDS Day that creatively captured the global effects of HIV/AIDS. Participants wore read and played with a globe to illustrate how we are playing with our future by not paying closer attention to the consequences of HIV/AIDS.
To read Lemuel’s blog entries: http://www.amplifyyourvoice.
Lemuel’s World AIDS Day action:
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Daisy Magaña presents at the International Family Planning Conference in Dakar, Senegal
Daisy Magaña (Belize 2009) received a full scholarship from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health to attend the International Family Planning Conference in Dakar, Senegal. While at the conference, Daisy participated in a panel discussion on the connection between SRH and the environment; presented in a session on improving SRH in Latin America; and met with various organizations, including Johns Hopkins, Restless Development (a youth-lead development agency in Zimbabwe), Sonke Gender Network (in South Africa), Population Action, Pathfinder, and the Population Reference Bureau.
Daisy was featured in an article on the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ website, along with fellow panelist from the SRH and environment session, which included Population Action International’s vice president of research and director of the climate program, Sierra Club’s global population and environment program director and Worldwatch Institute’s president. The article highlights Daisy’s simple message when it comes to advocating for sexual and reproductive rights and the environment: Don’t give up.
To read the article:
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/reaching-out-rio-explaining-population-growth-and-family-planning-to-environmentalists-dakar
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Wendy Aguilar’s Documentary Nominated in the XIV Icaro Film Festival
Wendy Aguilar (Honduras 2007) participated in the XIV Icaro Film Festival, which took place in Guatemala City, November 24 to December 1, 2011. Wendy did the cinematography for the film “En mis Tacones” (In My Heels) which was nominated for best Central American documentary short. During the festival Wendy had the opportunity to bring awareness to the plight of the transgender community to a wide audience and mingle with other young film makers from the region.
“En mis Tacones”, is about the reality faced by the transgender community in Honduras after the June 2009 coup d’état. The film illustrates the violation of human rights, discrimination, political and military repression, assassinations and transphobia suffered by this community by highlighting the experiences of individual transgender women and men. You can watch the film on Youtube:
(link)
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GOJoven Country Representative in Honduras visits the U.S. to share her experience in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Human Rights
We are excited to announce that Vanessa Siliezar, GOJoven’s Country Representative for Honduras, was awarded the Central American Women’s Leadership Fellowship (CAWL) 2011 through iLEAP, The Center for Critical Service. This inspiring young leader traveled to Seattle, Washington in September 2011 for three months to participate in the fellowship’s intensive training program designed to strengthen and expand the leadership capacities of international social change leaders. Check out this article to learn more about her experience.
While in the United States this fall, this passionate young advocate traveled to Los Angeles on November 4th to present on her work on promoting human rights and sexual and reproductive rights in Honduras at the Western Regional Feminist Campus Leadership Conference hosted by the Feminist Majority Foundation. There, she shared her unique experience working for GOJoven in Latin America. “I spoke with campus leaders about my experience in Honduras,” she said. “I told them that young women in my country can make a difference. Family planning is very important in a region with a lot of violence against women, most of them young, who do not have the same access to education, health or freedom from violence.”
At the conference, Siliezar engaged in a discussion with an audience of over one hundred and forty young feminists from university campuses around California about the reality of being a feminist and a Latina from Honduras. “For me, it was a great opportunity to share with other young women of Latino background,” she said. “Our parents don’t like having a daughter as a feminist, lesbian or women’s rights activist. We share this problem in Honduras, when we dare to name ourselves ‘feminists.’”
Siliezar said that despite the enormous barriers she faces living in a conservative religious nation, she continues advocating for increased access to contraception and HIV/AIDS services, equal rights for women, and a society free of violence against women. It helps that she brings a deep passion, commitment and courage to this mission.
Following her visit to Los Angeles, Siliezar traveled to PHI’s headquarters in Oakland where she presented to PHI staff members on her work. In this presentation, Siliezar also discussed the current situation in Honduras with regard to Human Rights and Sexual and Reproductive Rights and how PHI’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Programs have supported these movements in Honduras.
On November 23rd, Vanessa also visited the Oakland office of U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, where she met with Senior Congressional Aide Daniela Quintanilla. Vanessa described for Quintanilla the critical importance of the work GOJoven fellows do building support for international reproductive health in Latin America, including Honduras. Vanessa also expressed her own admiration for Representative Lee’s advocacy in Congress on support of U.S. Government funding for international reproductive health, as well as global HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
2006 Guatemala Fellow José Roberto Luna presents at Funders Network annual meeting in Santa Cruz, California
José Roberto Luna, a 2006 GOJoven graduate, traveled to Santa Cruz, California to present at the Funders Network on Population Reproductive Health and Rights annual meeting in November 2011. José Roberto participated in a plenary session on youth leadership and engagement, sharing his success working in Reproductive Health and Rights issues in Guatemala, including his work as founder of Incidejoven, a youth network that advocates for comprehensive sexual education, access to sexual health services for youth, and the right to decide. The California GOJoven office was also excited to host a brown bag forum for José Roberto beforehand, where he could meet Public Health Institute staff, and discuss his latest leadership at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as a consultant in Education and Youth issues in Guatemala, promoting the youth perspective, sexual and reproductive rights and youth participation in political spaces.
2010 Mexico Team opens youth friendly space in Jose Maria Morelos
On September 16, 2011, the GOJoven 2010 Mexico Team, made up of Santos Fuentes, Carlos Estrella, Cinthia Interian, Gladys Puc, and Zuemy Beatriz Alvarado, made their Leadership Action Plan a reality with the opening of Kanantaba, a new youth friendly space in Jose Maria Morelos. The goal of Kanantaba, which means “Take care of yourself” in Mayan, is to provide sexual and reproductive health information to youth ages 13-25. See the GOJoven Mexico Facebook Page for more information and photos of the grand opening. Congratulations on this fabulous accomplishment!
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GOJoven Belize’s English Program Launch
We’re excited to announce that GOJoven Belize’s English Program Launch was held on the 6th of September, from 10am to 12 noon. Mr. Simeon Lopez, the Mayor of Belmopan, delivered a speech to over 200 attendees. Those who participated included an estimated 150 local high school students, representatives from the U.S. Embassy and the United Nations Development Program, and 8 community health workers from the local area. The GOJoven Launch was featured in this month’s National Aids Commision Newsletter– click here to read more. Check out pictures and media coverage of the event!
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2006 Guatemala Fellow publishes online article
Saúl Paau Maaz, 2006 GOJoven alumni fellow from Guatemala, publishes an online article about reproductive health and environmental conservation from the perspective of the Maya Q’eqchi people. This informative article was published on RH Reality Check. Check it out!
Interview with Mexico 2011 fellow, Sandybel Robaldino Aguilar, and other Mexico GOJoven Fellows
An interview with Sandybel Robaldino Aguilar was recently featured in an online article in the newspaper, Luces Del Siglo. This article featured her success as a director for the Comprehensive Mental Health Center, Cancún. Other Mexico GOJoven fellows and their work were also featured: Nayeli Karina De la Torre Garcia, Julio César Morales Ek, Gladys Maribel Puc Castillo, Zuemy Beatriz (Betty) Alvarado Caamal, Santos Rene Fuentes and Carlos Iván Can Estrella.
http://lucesdelsiglo.com.mx/2011/06/26/lideres-jovenes-y-vanguardistas/
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