RTK - FR Yugoslavia Youth

The Right to Know Initiative taps into the creative and transformative power of youth. Young people are at the center of the program in every country, as researchers, as creators, as communicators, and as true partners. Through the initiative, young people become activists for the cause of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention as they research, design, and implement strategies for reaching out to other young people.

FR Yugoslavia Youth in Action Article

In Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia, 17-year-old Nina Milosavljevic has been visiting school after school to find out how other young people want to acquire knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Equipped with this information, she and her team of fellow RTK volunteers will work with other students to transform this information into effective communication strategies. Nina explains the process of research and development:

Why I got involved with HIV/AIDS activities:
I became a member of a youth HIV/AIDS education organization about two years ago because I am interested in biology and chemistry and because AIDS is a very big problem here — it's a large killer. I want to give my free time to help people to learn something and protect themselves.

What I do with RTK:
I am doing research in 4 schools — one primary and three secondary schools. We went to the schools and researched exactly what young people want. Mostly it was the same things, like newspapers, or dramas because in many schools there were many good actors. Now that we have this information, we will plan some activities. For example, I want to go back to one school where I work and help them with activities like making a newspaper and writing articles about AIDS, or making a drama. It's the first step.

What I like and don't like about RTK:
So far I like everything, but what I like most of all is that we research exactly what young people want. Now we know how to help them solve the problem of HIV/AIDS. The only problem is that I don't have as much free time as I would like to work on this project.

How much young people in FR Yugoslavia know about HIV/AIDS:
They don't know much about HIV/AIDS, or they know enough but don't do the things that would help them protect themselves. For example, they don't use a condom although they know they need to. We need to go to every school and motivate them to change, maybe with other activities like writing billboards or posters. When they accept the knowledge, this situation will be changed.