Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 7/5/2006

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U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) - 1995-2005 ten years serving the

humanitarian community

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - SOMALIA: Youth-friendly magazine passing on HIV/AIDS message

1 - SOMALIA: Youth-friendly magazine passing on HIV/AIDS message

HARGEYSA, 5 July (PLUSNEWS) - In the self-declared republic of Somaliland, where

discussions about sex remain taboo, a group of young people have been passing

the HIV/AIDS message on to their peers through a youth-friendly magazine, Koor.

The name is the Somali word for the wooden bell worn by herd camels to avoid

them getting lost. Created in 2003, Koor provides basic information on HIV/AIDS

to the youth, who in turn can use the knowledge to protect themselves from

contracting the virus.

" We realised that the youth have very little basic knowledge of HIV/AIDS, they

had few facts and a lot of fiction about the disease, " said Koor's editor,

22-year-old Ilham Sheik Muse. " It made us realise that they needed a leader to

pass vital and comprehensive information on the disease, we therefore

established Koor to lead them. "

Although Somalia's HIV infection rate remains low at 0.9 percent, UNAIDS

nevertheless says Somalia is " approaching a generalised epidemic " . Ignorance

about HIV persists in this conservative Muslim country, and many Somalis

perceive HIV/AIDS to be a " foreign " problem that is unlikely to affect them.

A behavioural study conducted by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) in

Somalia in 2004 found that just 26.6 percent of women in Somaliland had heard of

condoms. Only 13 percent of men and three percent of women in the region had

ever used one.

" During a survey we conducted last year about the use of condoms in Somaliland,

some boys said that they think condoms are not safe and they instead use

polythene bags when having sex, " Deq Saeed, of UNAIDS Somaliland, said recently.

The free, quarterly magazine - supported by Unicef and a local nongovernmental

organisation, HAVOYOCO - is run entirely by young people, who report on

HIV-related issues and interview people in the region to find out their views on

the pandemic.

Following increasing demand among young Somalis, Koor expanded to the

semiautonomous region of Puntland in the northeast and to southcentral Somalia,

bringing together the youth in a country deeply divided by clan loyalty.

Koor also tackles health, development and entertainment. For instance, it

highlights the health risks - including higher HIV risks - posed by female

genital mutilation, which is practised almost universally in the Horn of Africa

nation.

In its third year now, Koor's editor says the magazine has registered positive

impacts in terms of influencing behaviour change and prevention and control.

" After the youth got the knowledge of how HIV is spread, an overwhelming number

have employed precautionary measures, which include abstinence and the use of

condoms, so most of them are not ready to risk contracting HIV, " Muse said.

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PLUSNEWS

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Subscriber: AIDS treatments

[Guest guest]

U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) - 1995-2005 ten years serving the

humanitarian community

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - SOMALIA: Youth-friendly magazine passing on HIV/AIDS message

1 - SOMALIA: Youth-friendly magazine passing on HIV/AIDS message

HARGEYSA, 5 July (PLUSNEWS) - In the self-declared republic of Somaliland, where

discussions about sex remain taboo, a group of young people have been passing

the HIV/AIDS message on to their peers through a youth-friendly magazine, Koor.

The name is the Somali word for the wooden bell worn by herd camels to avoid

them getting lost. Created in 2003, Koor provides basic information on HIV/AIDS

to the youth, who in turn can use the knowledge to protect themselves from

contracting the virus.

" We realised that the youth have very little basic knowledge of HIV/AIDS, they

had few facts and a lot of fiction about the disease, " said Koor's editor,

22-year-old Ilham Sheik Muse. " It made us realise that they needed a leader to

pass vital and comprehensive information on the disease, we therefore

established Koor to lead them. "

Although Somalia's HIV infection rate remains low at 0.9 percent, UNAIDS

nevertheless says Somalia is " approaching a generalised epidemic " . Ignorance

about HIV persists in this conservative Muslim country, and many Somalis

perceive HIV/AIDS to be a " foreign " problem that is unlikely to affect them.

A behavioural study conducted by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) in

Somalia in 2004 found that just 26.6 percent of women in Somaliland had heard of

condoms. Only 13 percent of men and three percent of women in the region had

ever used one.

" During a survey we conducted last year about the use of condoms in Somaliland,

some boys said that they think condoms are not safe and they instead use

polythene bags when having sex, " Deq Saeed, of UNAIDS Somaliland, said recently.

The free, quarterly magazine - supported by Unicef and a local nongovernmental

organisation, HAVOYOCO - is run entirely by young people, who report on

HIV-related issues and interview people in the region to find out their views on

the pandemic.

Following increasing demand among young Somalis, Koor expanded to the

semiautonomous region of Puntland in the northeast and to southcentral Somalia,

bringing together the youth in a country deeply divided by clan loyalty.

Koor also tackles health, development and entertainment. For instance, it

highlights the health risks - including higher HIV risks - posed by female

genital mutilation, which is practised almost universally in the Horn of Africa

nation.

In its third year now, Koor's editor says the magazine has registered positive

impacts in terms of influencing behaviour change and prevention and control.

" After the youth got the knowledge of how HIV is spread, an overwhelming number

have employed precautionary measures, which include abstinence and the use of

condoms, so most of them are not ready to risk contracting HIV, " Muse said.

[ENDS]

This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at

Mail@....

Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark,

ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and

the United States of America. For more information, go to:

http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information

service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its

agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer

to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of

use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian

Affairs.]

PLUSNEWS

Tel: +27 11 895-1900

Fax: +27 11 784-6759

Email: Mail@...

To make changes to or cancel your subscription visit:

http://www.irinnews.org/subscriptions

Subscriber: AIDS treatments