Grant: Dissemination Events - Priority Announcement: HIV/AIDS

CATIE, in collaboration with other organizations, is organizing a national symposium to bring together diverse stakeholders invested in HIV prevention and support programming with and for marginalized youth in Canada. This event will facilitate the exchange of models of practice and lessons learned from front-line programming, research and policy to reinvigorate HIV prevention strategies and support programming for at-risk youth and for youth living with HIV in Canada. The National HIV and Youth Knowledge Exchange Symposium will provide a forum to bring together stakeholders including front-line service providers from youth-serving organizations and programs, youth-focused researchers, young leaders living with HIV and from communities at-risk, policy makers, and other stakeholders identified by CATIE with the support of a National Symposium Planning Committee. Participants will be chosen due to their involvement with one or more marginalized communities of youth particularly vulnerable to HIV, including: youth living with HIV, Aboriginal youth, street-involved youth, and LGBTTIQQ2S youth. The Symposium will strive to highlight intersectional issues that affect vulnerability, such as poverty and stigma, among and across marginalized youth in Canada. Participants will also discuss how these issues relate to HIV risk and other health disparities and how they have been or should be addressed through programming, research and policy. This two-day symposium will involve mixed formats for knowledge exchange and networking, including: keynote speakers, panel discussions, case studies, workshops, community development activities and informal networking opportunities. Where appropriate, the organizers will utilize knowledge exchange methods that have been proven to engage youth and effectively communicate HIV prevention and support-related information such as arts-based approaches including dramatic arts and digital storytelling.