The high rates of early marriages, teenage pregnancies, high fertility and increasing rates of HIV infection amongst women, including young women, reveal the high prevalence of violence against women (VAW), limited access to reproductive health and rights information and services, as well as vulnerability and risk to HIV. In the Asia and Pacific region, high rates of adolescent fertility hamper the development opportunities for young women, particularly in countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Thailand. Lack of education, inadequate and inaccessible information and reproductive health services coupled with discrimination and social pressure, leave young women unprepared to ensure their sexual rights and safety. This leaves young women more vulnerable to reproductive rights violations and interwoven into all these challenges is the discrimination young women face due to the simple fact of being born female.

‘ Our Rights, Our Bodies: Young Women Leading Change in Asia-Pacific ,’; a young women’s skills building on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), HIV and VAW will build the capacity and knowledge of young women of the Asia and Pacific YWCAs to provide leadership in their local, national, regional and international communities. The two-day training, supported and hosted by World YWCA in partnership with UNFPA Asia and Pacific Regional Office and AusAID, will be held in Melbourne, Australia from November 30 – December 1 for over 20 young women of the Asia and Pacific YWCAs. Based on their existing programming and training expertise, YWCA Papua New Guinea, YWCA of Canberra, Support and the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement will deliver SRHR and VAW training respectively.

"This opportunity is the first step in implementing the priorities agreed at the recent Asia Pacific YWCAs Regional Training Institute (RTI) held in Bali, Indonesia and is a testament to the commitment, passion and skill YWCA members who attended demonstrated to potential partners present during the event, “ explains World YWCA Regional Programme Director for Asia and the Pacific Juli Dugdale. “Building on all the amazing work YWCAs in the Asia and Pacific are contributing to improving the lives of women and girls, this young women's training will strengthen our work in SRHR, HIV and VAW and guide us toward developing a more detailed plan for building the capacity of our members individually, locally, nationally, regionally and globally. I am hopeful a young women's leadership strategy for the Asia and Pacific region will be an outcome of the meeting and that young women return to their YWCAs inspired and with practical skills to share the learnings.”

The programme will include female and male condom training and a panel discussion exploring how young women can reach out to vulnerable communities such as HIV positive young women, injecting drug users and sex workers. UNFPA Socio-Cultural Technical Advisor Anne Harmer will take part in the training, along with World YWCA President Susan Brennan and World YWCA General Secretary Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda. “The developmental implications for young women are many and highlight the need for coordinated efforts to ensure responsible leadership that advocates a young woman’s right to dignity, development and security, “ says Brennan. “When young women come together in the YWCA, change happens. Young women grow, they learn, their words count, their actions matter. We witness confidence soar, dreams crystallise and lives transform. In creating safe spaces for young women's leadership to flourish, the World YWCA trains a generation of leaders with hope, skills, conviction and possibility on their side.”

The training will be held two days prior to the Asia Pacific Breakthrough Summit in Melbourne that will bring together women’s groups, faith communities, development agencies, business and philanthropists in the Asia Pacific region to collaborate on local and regional action to reach the targets for Millennium Development Goals 3 and 5 on women’s equality and maternal health. Gumbonzvanda is a keynote speaker at the event and the World YWCA will lead the HIV and AIDS stream of the summit. “ This is an ideal opportunity for young women in the Asia-Pacific to develop broader networks and knowledge for their local advocacy and programming on SRHR, VAW and HIV. It is also important to ensure that young women are represented in a new Asia-Pacific Alliance to sustain the long term commitment to the MDGs and guarantee young women’s needs are considered," says Dugdale.

A small delegation of young women will also participate in The Parliament of World Religions taking place in Melbourne from December 4-9, to foster interreligious, civil and cross-cultural dialogue on the role that faith-based leaders and organisations can play in responding to the sexual and reproductive needs of women and girls and the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

“This is an amazing opportunity for young women in the region. Young women will be empowered and skilled to deliver SRHR, HIV and VAW training on return to their communities and there will be an increase in the critical mass of young women leaders on SRHR, HIV and VAW in the Asia Pacific region able to influence future World YWCA strategies and responses in not only communities, but their own lives, “ says Dugdale.

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