The global community has committed to ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. The number of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths each must decrease by 90 percent between 2010 and 2030 in order to realize this commitment. This goal will not be achieved, however, unless greater resources and attention are focused on preventing HIV infection among adolescents and young people, especially those at greatest risk. The Asia-Pacific region is credited with some of the earliest successes in responding to the HIV epidemic, however the pace of progress in reducing new HIV infections is slowing down.  

Given the need for reinvigorated HIV-prevention efforts for adolescents and youth in the Asia-Pacific region, UNICEF together with the Asia-Pacific Interagency Task Team on Young Key Populations (IATT on YKP),  including UNDP, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNWomen, UNESCO and civil society partners, conducted a formative assessment of adolescents and youth at risk of HIV in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam to reveal the most critical issues and needs related to education, parental and peer support, communications and mental health for adolescents and young key populations (AYKP).  

The primary aims of the assessment are to explore and understand experiences and key contexts of HIV risk and prevention, and broader sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for young people, including AYKP at greatest risk. This report presents the experiences and reports of young people, including AYKP, and the perspectives of experts working with young people in the region.