CrowdOutAIDS Open Forum “How to Guide” v 1.0
“How to Guide” to host a CrowdOutAIDS Open Forum
Abridged version
Thank you for volunteering to host an offline forum!
This manual is a short version of the CrowdOutAIDS “How to Guide” available
to download in English here. It will give you an overview of some practical tips to
help you moderate your forum and to make sure that all the valuable ideas that
come out of your forum get back to inform UNAIDS’ new strategy on HIV and
young people.
Please note that it does not matter how big or small your forum may be it can be
as small as 2 or as big as 200! It does not matter if you have never done
anything like this before. What matters is your willingness to bring together youth
from your community and give them an opportunity to impact global strategy on
HIV and young people.
Your responsibility as forum leader will be to facilitate the discussion and report
back to the CrowdOutAIDS team. The team will then publish the report of your
Forum on their website, and include the recommendations in the strategy
development process.
Table of contents
Unit 1: What is CrowdOutAIDS? ........................................................................2
Unit 2: Mobilizing Your Crowd ...........................................................................3
Unit 3: Preparing to Learn From Your Open Forum.........................................5
Unit 4: This Is What Our Crowd Had To Say...................................................16
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CrowdOutAIDS Open Forum “How to Guide” v 1.0
Unit 1: What is CrowdOutAIDS?
CrowdOutAIDS, started by the UNAIDS Secretariat, enables young people to
develop an actionable strategy on HIV and young people for the UNAIDS
Secretariat using online technologies, and voluntary offline meet-ups around the
world.
CrowdOutAIDS will:
o Connect young people who want to help out through tools like Facebook,
blogs, Orkut and Google docs.
o Engage in conversations about the key issues young people face.
o Put decision-making in the hands of young people.
o Collectively agree on actions—and get young people to draft the strategy!
Through CrowdOutAIDS, UNAIDS hopes to establish a network of youth
organizations and young people—students, artists, activists, public health
professionals—to come together to write a new narrative on HIV and young
people.
CrowdOutAIDS has one ultimate goal: that young people across the world
ensure the ambitious commitments made by UN Member States in the 2011 UN
Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS—such as halving new HIV infections and
ensuring 15 million people have access to treatment by 2015—are met.
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Unit 2: Mobilizing Your Crowd
Since your group can be from 2 to 200 people how you want to invite people to
your discussion forum depends on space and people willing to moderate. In this
section we offer some tips on advertising and discussion preparation.
Tips for Advertising
Getting the word out
Don’t make it complicated start with your personal network—friends,
family, colleagues etc.
Word of mouth, letters, phone calls, text messages, list-serve emails,
posters, writing with chalk on cement, campus calendars, press releases
for TV, daily and weekly newspapers, send a notice to stakeholder
organizations and individuals.
Be creative; use whatever you can think of!!!
Creating Space
Obviously, much depends on the resources you have available but there are a
few simple things you can do to make the people you invite more comfortable,
and thereby make the most of your discussion.
Choose the Space. If you have the luxury of choosing your space you might
look for someplace that’s comfortable and informal. Usually, that means
comfortable furniture that can be moved around (for instance, the group can form
a circle so everyone can see and hear). You may also choose a space away
from the ordinary (café, park, museum) or very ordinary your house or
school/workplace room.
The way to the heart is through the Stomach. NOTHING breaks down barriers
among people like eating and drinking. You do not need a five course meal but
something simple to nibble on. If you choose to have your meeting at a café or
restaurant you may ask if they want to “offer” anything while you or the people
you invite buy other items. Something as simple as a glass of water can go a
long way.
Bring materials to help the discussion along. Most discussions are aided by
the use of newsprint and markers to record ideas, for example.
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Discussion Forum Preparation Checklist
Before the Event
Find a suitable place to hold the discussion .
Determine who will be moderator and note taker for discussion.
Print out advertising posters, fliers or handouts.
Get the word out (see above).
Prepare or Print Sign-in sheet.
Prepare comment sheets and note-taking paper.
Think of a creative way to capture the moment photos, video or audio
of the group (must have everyone who is recorded permission and give
option not to take part).
On the day of the event
Remind people of the discussion.
Post direction signs.
Set up seating and table arrangements.
Depending on your resources or if you are part of an organization--Set
up information tables, displays, hand-outs and other informational
materials.
Gather recording materials—pens and paper.
Print out Discussion Guide and Reporting Template.
During the Event
Greet people at door, if possible.
Register participants, if appropriate.
Provide sign-up for contact list
Start on time or explain delays.
Check if everyone can hear and see.
Do introductions of moderator - and participants.
Do introductions outlined in the discussion guide.
Carefully monitor timing—balancing amount of discussion with amount
of questions and the time agreed for the meeting.
Ensure that everyone who wants to speak does so, and that no one
person dominates.
Record key comments and input on flip charts, overheads and/or in
reporters' notes.
Identify next steps, including how you will report back to participants.
Make sure participants have signed up and filled in contact sheet.
Make sure participants have contact information for follow-up.
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Unit 3: Preparing to Learn From Your Open Forum
In this unit we outline some steps you can take to maximize your ability to learn
from the participants in your forum. The focus is on the role of the discussion
moderator who is responsible for supporting and maintaining the group’s
discussion. A key to facilitating these focused discussions is knowing the guide.
Here are some tips to becoming a super-hero moderator
Knowing the Guide
When we talk about knowing the guide, and becoming familiar with the purpose
and content of the discussion it is not with the intention to make you the expert,
but rather to allow you to ask good questions that will help the group generate
ideas.
As you prepare for your discussion, read through the questions and think of ways
to adapt and word the questions to make them more tailored to your audience.
During the discussion you may have some blank stares or people saying, “what?!
I don’t get what you are asking”. If your attempts of explaining the question fail or
if it is simply something your group cannot answer make sure the note-taker
writes down why the question was skipped. If you have any questions,
suggestions or comments for the questions please email ngl@unaids.org.
The following section contains explanations for the moderator about the
questions that are in blue. In italics are sample texts of what you say to the group
during the discussion. The actual questions are in a normal font. The bulleted
points are probes that may come out naturally as people are talking or that you
can use as follow up questions to further understanding of the group’s
responses. Do not read these with the question. You do not have to use EVERY
probe.
CrowdOutAIDS Offline Discussion Guide
[Try to start on time. Briefly introduce yourself and go over the ground rules. This
also gives time for the late people to catch up.
If the note-taker is a group member, the group and/or leader should come up with
a strategy that allows her to participate fully in the discussion. This could be for
example that the moderator takes note when the note-taker is speaking]
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Introduction
Welcome to the CrowdOutAIDS open forum! Before we get going, I’m going to
run you through some ground rules for this succession here are a few things that
can help our discussion run smoothly:
Be respectful: no name-calling or abusive language no emotional
outbursts, no accusations.
There is no right or wrong answers. We expect, hope for and enjoy
differing points of view. Please feel free to share your point of view even if
it differs from what others have said.
Be honest. We are just as interested in negative comments as positive
comments.
No arguments directed at people – only at ideas and opinions.
Disagreement should be respectful – no ridicule.
Don’t interrupt. Listen to the whole of others’ thoughts – actually listen,
rather than just running over your own response in your head.
Respect the group’s time. Try to keep your comments reasonably short
and to the point, so that others have a chance to respond.
Feel free to follow up on other people’s comments you can agree,
disagree, give an example, etc….
Regardless of age, experience, education or position, remember that in
this forum you are all experts and all of you have important perceptions
that need to be expressed
Everyone is responsible for following and upholding the ground rules.
Our discussion today will take about 2 hours. I am here to ask questions, listen,
clarify and summarize the discussion. If you forget one of these rules I may
remind you. If you are dominating the conversation I may ask you to give other
people a chance. Our note-taker for the discussion today is_____ who will take
notes, record important points, questions for further discussion, areas of
agreement or disagreement, etc. May I have your permission to write notes on
our discussion?
To give you a short background, CrowdOutAIDS is a project developed by the
United Nations AIDS programme, the UNAIDS Secretariat. UNAIDS mandate is
to coordinate, lead, inform and advocate in the AIDS response.
CrowdOutAIDS is a collaborative project where young people around the world
are invited to give their perspective on how they think a UN organization like
UNAIDS can work more effectively with young people. This is happening both
online and through offline Open Forums like the one we have here today.
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CrowdOutAIDS Open Forum “How to Guide” v 1.0
In our discussion today, we will talk about a few different themes that have been
predefined by UNAIDS with feedback from representatives of youth networks.
My responsibility as the volunteer will be to facilitate the discussion and report
back to the CrowdOutAIDS team. The team will then publish the report of our
Forum on their website, and include the recommendations in the strategy
development process. They have also asked us to think of a creative way to
capture the moment photos, video or audio of our group. Do I have your
permission to ___________. * [Fill in blank with whatever means you have
decided (photo/video/audio recording). You should also give an option not to take
part]*.
If you have not already, be sure to sign the contact sheet, has anyone not signed
up?
Ok, let’s get going!
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Theme 1: Youth engagement and leadership
*[The first section is purposely very general. We are trying to warm people up.
Remember to pause, even if slightly awkward, to allow your group to respond to
the question before you start asking the bulleted probes. In pacing yourself try to
spend approximately 15 minutes.]*
Theme Introduction The first topic for discussion is focused around what youth
engagement and youth leadership is, and some of the challenges and
opportunities that young people have in our community to get involved.
1.1 What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear organizations,
government bodies and the UN talking about youth leadership and engagement?
If only negative perspectives If only positive perspectives
Can you think of anything that has worked Can you think of something that has not
well? worked so well?
1.2 In your country can you think of current examples where youth perspectives
have been well-represented?
If No If Yes
What reasons can you think of to explain this? For example in community organizations,
government, health care organizations, and/or
UN agencies?
What role did young people play?
What was particularly good about the way
youth perspectives were represented?
1.3 What are some of the common mistakes that are made when organizations
or governments work with young people?
o Can you share some specific examples?
o Any issues between youth and non-youth when working together?
1.4 What challenges do you see in our community for young people to be
leaders of social change?
o Is there a challenge in lack of experience among young people?
o Do you have access to and information about where decisions are made in your
community?
o Are there any social norms that act as barriers (gender, religion, etc.)
o Other
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1.5 Alright imagine for a moment that Ban ki-moon (UN Secretary-General) walks
into this room and he tells you that he has a big meeting in five minutes and
needs you to come up with some key principles that should be respected when
the UN/Governments/non-governmental organization work with young people.
What do we tell him?
*[if you have the resources you may give each person a piece of paper and pen.
Give a minute or two and let them respond writing on their own first and then
share what they came up with.]*
Theme 2: Young people and HIV
*[In this section people should be a bit more warmed up. While the previous
section’s content was more general, here you are shifting to getting people to
think and talk about their local reality within the context of HIV. This section is an
opportunity to share context specific data and space to talk and reflect.
Knowledge is power. Please take the time to make sure the regional and country
specific data are included. Approximate 15-20 min]*
Theme Introduction We are going to shift now for a moment from talking about
leadership to talking more specifically about young people and HIV. Once again I
would like to remind you that there are no right or wrong answers we want you to
just tell it like it is.
2.1 If you could change ONE thing in the way your community deals with sex and
relationships what would it be?
o IF responses are only about individual behavior ask “what about at the community level”
*[If the group is under 12 people and someone has not yet spoken this is a good
question to make eye contact or go around the circle/room asking for individual
responses.]*
2.2 Current statistics in our country/region indicate that __________young
people are living with HIV*[Moderator please place Country-specific data. It can
be found here: http://www.unaids.org/en/dataanalysis/tools/aidsinfo/ put the
most relevant statistics that demonstrate the problem of young people getting
infected with HIV -- if data in not available for your country, use 3000 young
people are infected with HIV every day around the world]*. Ask participants,
"Why is it like this?" Write down the answers given, and ask, "But why does (the
answer) occur?"
For example,:
"More than____ number of new infections are estimated for young people this
year in ____ ,"
But why?
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One of the responses may be "Because they don’t use condoms."
But why?
"Because they are in a relationship where they think they do not need to protect
themselves."
But why?
And so on.
2.3 Comprehensive knowledge of HIV prevention is still extremely low in many
counties, (only 24% of young women and 36% of young men have accurate
knowledge in low- and middle income countries) – what do you think is needed to
raise knowledge about HIV in your country?
2.4 There are 5 million young people living with HIV worldwide. Is it important for
young people living with HIV to be open about their status? What are some of the
risks with being open about living with HIV in your community today?
*[Take a 10 minute break if you feel that it is needed.]*
Theme 3: Young people organized for HIV
[*In this section you are tying together the two topics of leadership and HIV. We
want to gain an understanding of youth involvement in the AIDS response. By
AIDS response we are referring to any activity—prevention, treatment, care,
support, advocacy etc. that has to do with HIV and AIDS. Approx 15-20min]*
Theme Introduction Now we are moving into talking specifically about how
young people are organized in our communities, to identify some of the
opportunities and challenges in mobilizing young people in the AIDS response.
3.1 Are young people currently active in the AIDS response in your community?
If Yes In No
What motivates young people to get involved? What do you think is stopping young people
from getting involved in the AIDS response in
your community?
o Is it difficult to talk about HIV, sex and
drug use in your community?
o Is there lack of information? If yes,
why?
o Is there lack of interest on part of
young people?
o Is there a lack of funding?
o Difficulty accessing established
structures and leaders?
o Legal systems?
Stigma and discrimination?
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3. Within the community of________ [depending on your audience fill in blank
with the most appropriate population: sex workers, men who have sex with men,
people who inject drugs, young people living with HIV, other], what are the
specific issues preventing them from getting involved?
o What are some of the unique contributions that leadership from this population could give
to the AIDS response?
Theme 4: Recommendations young people and UNAIDS
[*In this section you are gathering recommendations and feedback on the ways
in which UNAIDS can involve and serve the needs of young people better.
Approx 15-20min]*
As I mentioned in the introduction UNAIDS mandate is to advocate, coordinate,
lead and inform the AIDS response at global, regional and country level. In this
last section of the discussion CrowdOutAIDS wants our on the ground
perspective to inform their long term strategy for working with young people.
Rather than building a strategy and asking for feedback at the end, the
CrowdOutAIDS project is attempting to involve youth in a process of co-creating
the path ahead for UNAIDS work with youth. This is HUGE and exciting!
UNAIDS reports on the global AIDS epidemic and response, and has information
about the legal environment, prevention, research, best practices on HIV
programmes, monitoring and evaluation tools etc.
4.1 How can UNAIDS make young people aware that this information is
available?
o What type of information would be helpful for you to be able to move the AIDS response
forward in your community?
Who is at risk, who has access to services, epidemic data etc.
Laws
Funding
Opportunities (internships, trainings, etc.)
Services
Other
o In what format do young people want the information?
Email?
Online platform?
Letters?
Flyers?
Podcasts?
SMS?
Come in person and speak at your school?
Others?
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4.2 Some of the ideas UNAIDS has put on the table for working better with young
people include a youth advisory board, a mentorship programme for young
people working outside UNAIDS, or institutionalizing small research grants for
young people on young people and HIV.
o What do you think of these suggestions?
o What would be the benefits of a mentorship programme – what would it look like?
o What mandate should a youth advisory board have?
o What other mechanisms do you think could be a good way to include young people?
4.3 How can UNAIDS support and strengthen youth leadership in your country?
Below are some ideas, but feel free to add your own!
o Mentorship? If so, what is the kind of mentorship you need, and how do you
envision a mentorship program or strategy could work in your country?
o In-person trainings? On what topics?
o Online trainings? On what topics?
o Networking opportunities?
4.4 Based on the above, who do you think UNAIDS should partner with to
achieve these things?
Closing the discussion
5.1 Of all the things we have discussed today, which one is most important to
you?
5.2 Before we wrap up, is there anything that we have not discussed today that
you would like to add?
Thanks you for being part of the CrowdOutAIDS open forum. Remember to sign
your name and email address so UNAIDS can follow up with you on the outcome
of CrowdOutAIDS.
If you want information sent to you via mail, or postal address down on the pager.
On behalf of UNAIDS, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to
contribute to making UNAIDS a better organization more aligned to the needs of
young people in the AIDS response.
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A Good moderator does and is:
*reproduced and adapted from the Community Toolbox http://ctb.ku.edu/ see reference section for all
sources
Supports and maintains discussion. Makes sure that everyone participates
and that no one dominates. Encourages the development and expression of all
ideas, including “odd” ones, and safeguards an open process, where there are
no foregone conclusions and everyone’s ideas are respected.
Puts people at ease. Especially if most people in the group don’t know one
another, it’s your job as leader to establish a comfortable atmosphere and set the
tone for the discussion.
Respectful, empathetic, and positive
Requires the ability to listen and the self-discipline to control your
personal views
Friendly manner and a sense of humor…but don’t over do the attempts at
humor they can easily be misinterpreted, and be counterproductive.
Demonstrate that you are respectful, empathetic and positive by your tone
and how you respond to people.
Establishes ground rules. The ground rules of a group discussion are the
guidelines that help to keep the discussion on track, and prevent it from
deteriorating into name calling or simply argument. See discussion guide for
sample text for establishing some ground rules for the discussion.
Involving all participants. To involve those who are less assertive or shy, or
who simply can’t speak up quickly enough, you might ask directly for their
opinion, encourage them with body language (smile when they say anything,
lean and look toward them often), and be aware of when they want to speak and
can’t break in. It’s important both for process and for the exchange of ideas that
everyone has plenty of opportunity to communicate their thoughts.
Asking questions or offering ideas to advance the discussion. The leader
should be aware of the progress of the discussion, and should be able to ask
questions or provide information or arguments that stimulate thinking or take the
discussion to the next step when necessary. If participants are having trouble
grappling with the topic, getting sidetracked by trivial issues, or simply running
out of steam, it’s the leader’s job to carry the discussion forward.
The Power of the Pause and the Probe
Give time to let people discuss. If you talk too much or move too
quickly from one topic to another you may hinder the discussion more
than help it.
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Standard helpful probes:
o Would you explain further?
o Would you give me an example of what you mean?
o Would you say more?
o Tell us more.
o Say more.
o Is there anything else?
o Please describe what you mean.
o I don’t understand.
After awhile you may sense that people are just repeating and
reaffirming the same concept. After several of these echoes on the
same idea try asking, “Does anyone see it differently?” or “Has anyone
had a different experience?” or “Are there other points of view?” or “We
seem to be assuming that we’re supposed to believe X – is that true?”.
Sometimes the group will gang up against one minority voice, try to
understand what is going on “We all seem to be picking on John here –
what’s going on?”
Part of your job here is to protect “minority rights,” i.e., unpopular or unusual
ideas. That doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, but that you have to
make sure that they can be expressed, and that discussion of them is respectful,
even in disagreement. (The exceptions are opinions or ideas that are
discriminatory or downright false.) Odd ideas often turn out to be correct, and
shouldn’t be stifled.
Summarizing or clarifying important points, arguments, or ideas. This task
entails making sure that everyone understands a point that was just made, or the
two sides of an argument. It can include restating a conclusion the group has
reached, or clarifying a particular idea or point made by an individual (“What I
think I heard you say was…”). The point is to make sure that everyone
understands what the individual or group actually meant.
Wrapping up the session. As the session ends, the leader should help the
group review the discussion and get feedback on the session – including
suggestions for making it better – pointing out the group’s accomplishments, and
thanking it for its work.
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Do’s and don’t’s for discussion leaders
Do:
o Model the behavior and attitudes you want group members to employ.
o Use encouraging body language and tone of voice, as well as words.
o Give positive feedback for joining the discussion.
o Be aware of people’s reactions and feelings, and try to respond
appropriately.
o Ask open-ended questions.
o Control your own biases. While you should point out factual errors or
ideas that are inaccurate and disrespect
o Encourage disagreement, and help the group use it creatively.
Don’t:
o Don’t let one or a small group of individuals dominate the discussion.
o Don’t let one point of view override others
o Don’t assume that anyone holds particular opinions or positions because
of his culture, background, gender, ethnicity, personal style, etc.
o Don’t assume that someone from a particular culture, gender, ethnicity, or
background speaks for everyone else from that situation.
o Don’t be the font of all wisdom – that is, don’t present your self as the
intellectual authority. Be humble.
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Unit 4: This Is What Our Crowd Had To Say
In this unit we provide some tips on how to take effective notes and some options
on how to report back to CrowdOutAIDS.
By the end of the unit, participants will:
Understand how to report back to CrowdOutAIDS so that their discussion
results help shape the new strategy on youth involvement with UNAIDS.
Have some tips on how to effectively capture what their crowd had to say.
How to Report Back
There are three main ways that you can report back to us. The first way is the
reporting template that all CrowdOutAIDS volunteers will use to report back.
Optional creative ways to report back includes producing audiovisual materials
and writing a personal blog.
1. Reporting template
The reporting template, available in this info-pack, is the minimum requirement
for reporting back to the CrowdOutAIDS team. It is important to report back in a
timely manner to ensure that you don’t forget anything important that was raised
in the forum, but also so the discussions you had in the Open Forum makes it
into the strategy. The reporting template might seem comprehensive, but don’t
worry – it’s not all that bad!
The reporting template is made up of all the questions in the CrowdOutAIDS
discussion guide. Under each question there is a space for adding notes from
your note-taker. The size of the space is completely arbitrary, and can be made
smaller or larger depending on how extensive your discussion was. When you
are writing your report, think about the key themes and key burning points that
you took notes of from the Open Forum. Write the key points as bullet points in
relation to the question asked, for each questions asked in the Open Forum. If a
question was missed, or there was no answer please not down:
- this question was not asked
- this question was asked but participants did
o not understand
o did not think it was relevant
o understood the question, but did not have any thoughts about it.
If a participant says something that you think is really powerful, try to capture it
word by word in “citation” marks and insert the quote in the reporting template.
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Example:
3.1 Are young people currently active in the AIDS response in your
community?
o Participants said that most young people are not involved in the AIDS response
because here is Scotland people don’t see AIDS as an issue. They think it is
something that happens only in developing countries, when it’s everywhere.
o Participants said that young people also are not involved because there are no
incentives to participate. As young people we have other things to care about, like
education and jobs, specially now with the financial crisis. One participants said “well, if
there’s noting in it for me why should I – I’d much rather just have fun”
o While most participants agreed with the above, one girl said that people aren’t involved
but would like to if they really felt that they could contribute and make a differences.
But she felt it was not clear where there were opportunities for that in Scotland.
2. Audiovisual documentation
If participants agree, and you are interested and have the available resources,
you are more than welcome to document your CrowdOutAIDS open forum. This
can be done via:
o Audio recoding
o Photography
o Video
It is important that all people who appear in the Photo/video/audio have provided
you with consent to be captured and that they understand that the photo will be
published online.
If you provide UNAIDS with photo, video and audio from the CrowdOutAIDS
Open Forum, UNAIDS reserves the right to use the material within the
CrowdOutAIDS project, and may use the photos for both online and print
publications related to youth engagement in the AIDS response. The photos will
always be credited to you. For any of the following media you submit to UNAIDS
please provide:
1) Names of people appearing in the photo/audio/video 2) date and 3) location
and 4) the name of the photographer.
If you have files that you want to send to the CrowdOutAIDS team but are too
large, send us an email at ngl@unaids.org and we will provide you with details to
our FTP server.
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3. Write a personal blog
To get a more personal story of what it was like to host a CrowdOutAIDS Open
Forum Volunteer, you can also write a short blog post about your experience.
This should be written from your personal perspective. Some questions that
could help you get started include:
o How did you find out about CrowdOutAIDS?
o What made you decide to host an Open Forum?
o What did you learn from the Open Forum?
o Did the participants provide any feedback about the Open Forum, if yes –
what did they think?
o What do you think about the CrowdOutAIDS process?
For some further guidance, please find the CrowdOutAIDS editorial policy:
o Contributors should write based on their personal experience
o All articles must be provocative, insightful and solution-focused
o All articles must be accurate
o Where statistics is used, or authorities are quoted, writers must attribute
the sources
o Articles must be written in Standard English. If written in Spanish, French,
Russian or Chinese, correct translation must be provided in English
o All writers must submit only original articles.
o Submission must cover the thematic areas of youth leadership and
engagement, HIV and young people, ICT for development, Crowd
sourcing, CrowdOutAIDS Forum participation.
o All articles must be between 500- 750 word limit
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