Kartada Tres draws on influential youth leaders to carry out communication-centred activities to raise HIV/AIDS awareness among their peers, as well as to undertake advocacy to promote HIV/AIDS prevention among key policy makers. The model of intervention works within the existing public health structure and involves developing the capacity of youth as peer educators/advocates while strengthening the relationships between youth, the government, and NGOs. Thus, youth participation and leadership building are central to meeting the goal of ensuring that the rights and health of youth are realised, recognised, and respected - as part of a strategy for preventing HIV/AIDS.

Young leaders were prepared to undertake this work through PSPI advocacy training initiatives. A total of 458 youth council officials participated in a basic training curriculum delivered in the form 11 seminars/workshops, which focused on such topics as interpersonal communication, gender and sexuality, and adolescent sexual health HIV/AIDS. A key goal was to help adolescents gain self-awareness so that they can exercise their own judgment in relation to their sexual behaviour and feelings. The sessions also aimed to build leadership skills so that youth can effectively claim the rights of peers to sexual and reproductive health. Of the initial 458 participants, 20 graduated to the level of peer educator; they were then provided with specialised training including: managing group discussions, counselling skills, public speaking, acting for advocacy, radio performance, and creative writing.

Following this training, youth council officials became actively engaged in activities to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and its prevention among peers and other community members, as well as in actions to encourage and assist local government units to pass legislation on HIV/AIDS prevention and ASRH. Participating youth have:

• conducted one-day-workshops for their adolescent
  constituencies on sexuality, adolescent sexual health, and HIV/AIDS; small group discussions with young boys and young girls; and events on World Aids Day
  incorporating the participation of adult stakeholders from both government and private organisations.
• developed communication materials
  such as posters, brochures, and billboards containing messages on adolescent
  sexual health. Billboards were established/erected in 20 out of the 46 target towns in central locations. Other youth-created information, education and communication (IEC) materials were used in community campaigns such as the Kartada Karavan, which sought the participation of large numbers of
  adolescents and which took place in one town one weekend. These materials were also distributed during the home visits by the youth officials to their constituencies.
• popularised the discourse of HIV/AIDS prevention through a radio show that was was held daily for separate periodic chunks of two months each time. It highlighted a contest in which listeners would text-in their responses to questions raised during the broadcast. The questions were derived from the factual content on adolescent sexual health and HIV/AIDS discussed during the programme. Winners were announced at the end of the show and rewards given in the form of prepaid cellphone airtime credits. The show was aired at lunchtime and entirely hosted/run by the trained peer educators.
• used entertaining events, such as sportsfests, discos, beauty pageants, and singing and dance contests, to educate peers about HIV/AIDS
• organised popular mass actions with various community stakeholders.

HIV/AIDS, Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights, Youth.

According to Wikipedia, each barangay (village) in the Philippines is mandated by law to have its own chapter of the Katipunan ng Kabataan in which the members elect their officers, called the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK). The SK, 400 or so whose members have participated in Kartada Tres, is the youth legislature in every local village or community which also initiates policies, programmes and projects for the development of youth.

A cross-sectional baseline study on the sexual and reproductive health practices of adolescents in Misamis Oriental and Lanao del Norte, conducted by the Research Institute for Mindanao Culture of Xavier University, indicated that a "great number" of adolescents believe they do not have adequate knowledge about sex and sexuality; "a large number of respondents" admitted to having no idea about unprotected sex; and "very few respondents are oriented to the prevention of unintended pregnancy with both sexes citing abortion as an option when confronted with pregnancy." In addition, a student leader from Xavier University commented, "Even in a supposedly rich urban centers like Cagayan de Oro City, there are youth who would sell their sexual services just to have P1,000 or P100,000 for their schooling."

PSPI suggests that the project's major success to date has been its ability to raise the level of political commitment to ASRH, reflected in the articulation of specific appeals and demands from the affected populations themselves for appropriate ARSH information and services. Due to the initiative of youth council officials, both provinces have approved legislation supporting HIV/AIDS prevention education, with corresponding budget allocation. PSPI is carrying out a formal monitoring of message capture and comprehension by the adolescent audience. An evaluation using a control group will take place in 2007.