The purpose of this
six-week forum is to share effective strategies in the area of popular
culture and youth-led media for sexual and reproductive health
promotion, drawing on Y-PEER’s expanded, innovative partnerships. The
six weeks of discussion shall cover channeling the power of the media
to effectively implement strategic behaviour change communication,
touching on young people in the spotlight through youth-led and
interactive media, theatre and concerts, individual face-to-face
testimonials and screen-to-screen dialogue, and radio-based
interventions..
Number of participants: 515
Number of participants' countries: 91
Number of contributions: 136
% of contributions from developing countries: 74%
Number of countries contributing: 78
Topic and expert:
Week 1 Overall Summary:
We have arrived at the end of the Week 1 discussion. I am thrilled with how we are progressing and once more I wish to thank Tim for his leadership and technical input, as well as all of you – almost 400 people in over 80 countries who came together to discuss this very important topic. Further, let me thank once more UNFPA and Johns Hopkins colleagues for their continuous ‘behind the scenes’ support which is crucial!Topic and expert:
Week 2 Summary:
So we come to the conclusion of Week 2 of our discussion – and what a rich discussion it was. A huge thanks to Vicki and her team at Hollywood, Health and Society! Of course, I must personally thank Joe Sachs, Zoanne Clack, Neal Baer, David Foster and Betsy Snyder not only for joining us in discussion nor doing such a great job at educating the public, but also for keeping me glued to a TV when I should be moderating this Forum. Your work is much appreciated!Topic and expert:
Week 3 Summary:
I wish to thank Bill and his colleagues at the Population Media Center (PMC) for another week rich with academic and experiential content, this time concentrating on radio as a tool of entertainment education.Topic and expert:
Week 4 Summary:
Allow me to present you with a brief summary of Week 4: “Acting the Part: Young People in the Spotlight.” Firstly, we heard from Cydelle, Ken and Colin who are all doing amazing work. We’ve learned more about the NiteStar Theatre, about the Issues Troupe and about Dance4Life. We defined peer-based theatre education and learned more about using dance and music as a means of engaging young people in HIV prevention. Finally, we heard about the role of large concerts/events on awareness-raising globally.Topic and expert:
Week 5 Summary:
Allow me firstly to extend my gratitude to Amil. His insightful and carefully thought-out contribution from this week has opened my eyes about the exploding field of new technologies in health promotion (and other sectors of development work).Topic and expert:
Week 6 Day 2 Summary:
Following up on our conversation from yesterday regarding harmonization of new and on-going media-based initiatives with other prevention, outreach and clinical service programs, allow me to present a possible next step, or recommendation for action.Week 6 Day 3 Summary:
To follow up on our discussion from yesterday, the answer may be establishing strategic partnerships and actually working jointly in order to overcome one agency’s limitations and at the same time utilize their strategic niche. For example, UNFPA may establish a functioning partnership UNICEF, UNODC, UNDP and approach a TV producer (or other entertainment media professionals) as one body. Although this sounds quite easy now, it is much more difficult in the real world, but by no means is it impossible. One “motivating” factor for this to happen may lay in the power of funding agencies that can request on-going collaboration and explicit and functioning orientation towards comprehensive community development and personal wellbeing in our work vs. artificial differentiation of areas of involvement.Week 6 Day 4 Summary:
Allow me to follow up on our question from yesterday. One way of accomplishing this is to show the cost-benefit of integrating community in the decision-making process. I do not want to stereotype the media industry; however, a large part of it is driven by revenue. Of course, there is a lot to be said about the artistic value of a product, yet popularity, and in turn financial gain, often determines whether or not even the most creative show will stay on air or not. That said, the public health profession needs to collect much better data on cost-effectiveness of programmes produced utilizing the methodologies described by Bill and his colleagues.Week 6 Day 5 Summary:
As we bring this review week to close, let’s think about yesterday’s question. UNFPA has started coordinating campaign-developing workshops, such as the regional workshop held in Istanbul on Youth Pop Culture, Media and HIV/AIDS: http://www.youthpeer.net/site/posts.php?page_id=3§ion_id=3&post_id=144. Through such initiatives, agencies can support local NGOs and government agencies paring up with media professionals and celebrities. However, as we mentioned previously, UN agencies must link together in order to expand their own agencies’ missions and therefore address the wellbeing of their audiences in more comprehensive ways. This is a challenge that must be addressed head on by all of us.Number of surveys completed 78
% who have passed content to others 62%
% who have or will use in their work 94%
% very satisfied with forum content 83%
Suggestions for improvement :
Click here for related resources and references in the community library
Adolescent and Youth Team of the Division for Arab States, Europe and Central Asia of UNFPA and the INFO Project based at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP)
Tim Thomas, the Executive Director of MTV’s Staying Alive Campaign
Vicki Beck, Director of Hollywood, Health and Society project
Bill Ryerson, Founder and President of the Population Media Center (PMC), along with his PMC colleagues, Kriss Barker, Vice President for International Programs and Katie Elmore, Development and Communications Manager
Dr. Cydelle Berlin, Executive Director of the NiteStar Program
Colin Dixon, Head of Global Partnerships and Development at Dance4Life
Amil Husain the Youth Coordinator with the United Nations Millennium Campaign
Todd Murray, the Executive Director / Founder of Hope’s Voice and Executive Producer of the documentary Road to Hope
Dr. Srdjan Stakic, Coordinator of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale Center for Public Health Preparedness
Sponsors and organizers of the Forum: Adolescent and Youth Team of the Division for Arab States, Europe and Central Asia of UNFPA, headed by Dr. Aleksandar Sasha Bodiroza. Ms. Ann Pettigrew of UNFPA has put hours preparing this Forum and my gratitude goes to her. In addition, I thank everyone with the Information and Knowledge for Optimal Health Project at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. It is clear that their skill at organizing these types of fora is unique globally.
Dr. Srdjan Stakic, Coordinator of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale Center for Public Health Preparedness