The School Campaign was a joint project of CHOICE and Positieve Gastsprekers (Positive Guest Speakers), supported by the World Aids Campaign. In this project, two youth organizations working in the field of HIV/AIDS combined their forces. Positive Guest Speakers is an organization by young people living with HIV that provide education about living with HIV in the Netherlands. Both organizations work from the perspective that local change needs support from international level, and that international change is impossible without local support and awareness.
In September 2010, CHOICE visited schools and students and conducted introduction meetings and capacity building workshops. The main goal of these trainings was to give the students information about HIV and AIDS, to empower them to take action and to design a work plan for the campaign. In this way, the School campaign project built capacity of high school students and groups. At the same time, knowledge on human rights, HIV/AIDS and youth participation was increased.
With this knowledge and these skills, young campaigners at the school then organized a campaign around World Aids Day. This campaign included workshops for school pupils on HIV/AIDS and youth participation - including a United Nations simulation game especially designed for this purpose. A fundraising evening to which parents of the pupils were invited was often also part of the campaign. At the participating school in Bilthoven, for example, pupils organized a bake sale and held an auction to raise money and at the same time informed parents on the situation of HIV/AIDS in the world.
Informed by those most affected by HIV, the World AIDS Campaign’s goal is to ensure that governments and policy makers meet the HIV targets they have set, the commitments they made, and mobilize the necessary resources for a world where people do not die of AIDS and infections such as tuberculosis.
Employing a rights-based approach, the World AIDS Campaign collaborates with a diverse range of communities, organizations and most affected populations. The World AIDS Campaign works to connect and enhance campaigning, advocacy and lobbying on HIV, promoting leadership, accountability and collaboration among social movements to press for universal access, human rights, gender equality and social justice. Since the goals and objectives of WAC share a solid common ground with the aims and directions of CHOICE, the two organizations decided to collaborate.
CHOICE intends to raise the voice of young people in order to raise awareness on and support for reducing HIV/AIDS among high school students, young people living with HIV/AIDS, school directors, teachers, politicians and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
