ABU DHABI // A six-day training workshop for young people is under way in the capital to educate them about reproductive health and protection from HIV and Aids.
Y-Peer, an international youth-to-youth initiative pioneered by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), wants to establish a national network of trainers who will spread the message of prevention.
The group typically uses educational institutions, lectures, electronic communications and sharing lessons to get their peer-to-peer message home, although delivery methods vary from culture to culture.
About 15 trainees - who must have prior experience in charity work - aged from 15 to 24 undertook the workshop, which was conducted in Arabic for the first time in the UAE, and will finish tomorrow.
"Y-Peer is a network that was originally founded by the UNFPA, but now they are independent," said Salah al Saleh, the programme co-ordinator for UNFPA in Oman who was attending the workshop.
Before organising training in a country, charitable organisations are scouted to find which have strong youth networks. The Red Crescent was chosen as the UAE affiliate.
The Y-Peer network, established in 2001, operates in more than 50 countries and has more than 5,000 members.
