28 Nov 2019

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi is expected to officiate at this year’s World AIDS Day commemoration in Maun on Sunday.

The commemoration, which will be held at Maun Sports Complex under the theme; Communities Make a Difference, will start with marches from Maun Senior Secondary School and Tshwaragano Junior Secondary School at six am. 

As a build up to the main event, a number  of activities are lined up in Maun and surrounding villages to mobilise the community.

Among the activities is a post activity of the recent Dipalametse roadshows where some young people from different youth structures will hold a discussion today. The discussion targets out of school young men and women aged 20 -24 years.

About 80 young people are expected to participate in the discussion, which is aimed at raising awareness on health issues, discuss issues that affect young people and share ideas on what they think needs to be done to address their needs. 

The symposium is a Shuga facilitated discussion and the programme will be implemented through facilitated discussions after watching Shuga video Series II episode 1 and 2 on gender based violence (GBV), disclosure, condom use and alcohol abuse themes.

Shuga is a multi-media campaign geared towards behaviour change communication targeting young people aged 10 to 24. The initiative offers intensified and localised HIV prevention education and messages along with access to vital services.

It represents PEPFAR’s on-going commitment to HIV prevention for youth as one of the first lines of defence in the fight against HIV. Other activities include youth digital village and Ngamiland U-report launch on December 1.

Youth digital village will be ‘One stop shop’ housing all multimedia programmes including Wise Up, SHUGA, U-Report, Teenwise, Dreams, Confessions of a Poor woman, Two Wrongs in Maun blogs and other local ICT programmes where adolescents and young people can access ICT services at one central place. 

Open internet will be availed at the digital village where mobile service providers such as Mascom, Orange and Be Mobile, Botswana Communication Regulatory Authority (BOCRA), Department of Information Technology (DIT) are expected to offer free Wi-Fi. 

Different programmes will be exhibited on computer and  TV screens. Ngamiland U-Report is a platform designed to empower young people to speak out on issues that affect them. 

The platform encourages citizen-led development and fosters a positive change from grassroots level. The primary channel of engagement is SMS complemented by social media platforms including Facebook and twitter. The activity, which will form part of the main programme, will be launched by the First Lady.  The U-Report will be flashed on the big screen connected to the internet so it can be live during the launch. ends