Youths told to speak up on sex abuse

Nils Katsberg, speaking at the opening of the second Caribbean Summit for Children on HIV/AIDS at Cascadia Hotel, urged youths to speak to an older person about violence and sexual abuse taking place.

At the function, hosted by the Ministry of Social Development in collaboration with Unicef, Katsberg stated, "We know that many older men are not behaving as they should be with you young people and you should dare to speak out. Silence generates impunity. If you remain silent, it will continue happening not only to you but those who will come later." The theme for this year is "Keeping the Promise — Putting Children First," and the aim of this year’s summit is to raise awareness to the problems faced by children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and the specific cultural, social, and economic factors contributing to the vulnerability of the group.

In his address, Katsberg highlighted four areas for attention — commitment from all in society to respond to HIV/AIDS; prevention; to ensure all young people/children who lost one or both parents get support; and universal coverage with anti-retroviral treatment.

Katsberg said more and more young girls were being infected. He said they were usually infected as adolescents and not enough was being done to protect them.

"By 2010 we would like to see a reduced prevalence in young people from where it is today." He said very often social programmes were not reaching young people, and children who had been orphaned faced a range of issues (education, health, exclusion, stigma and discrimination). Katsberg said, "We now have in the Caribbean and Latin America 750,000 who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. Unless we do something drastic, it is going to get worse."

Sessions at the summit will utilise a range of techniques including interactive drama and music to achieve several objectives, among them — highlight the realities faced by children made vulnerable to and by the HIV/AIDS epidemic; access the progress made by governments and civil organistions following commitments made at the 2004 Summit in Barbados; and increase the participation of young people in HIV/AIDS interventions.