Facilitating an International Workshop on HIV, Sexual Reproductive Health, & Adolescence (IHSRHA)

Abstract Now in its 9th year, the International Workshop on HIV, Sexual Reproductive Health, & Adolescence (IHSRHA) provides a collaborative platform to advocate for youth engagement in HIV research. The workshop is held annually in a different African country, to encourage attendance from high-HIV-burden countries and reduce travel and visa barriers for target attendees. The global community seeks to end the HIV epidemic by 2030 using the 95-95-95 strategy. This will require sustained collaboration between diverse actors in Africa, including young people attending the workshop, using evidence-based interventions (EBIs) and dissemination and implementation (D&I) science strategies and frameworks to reduce silos in knowledge and close the research-to-practice gap. As a result, we propose to organize for the next 5 years, a workshop within IHSRHA aimed at D&I directly, by bringing leading D&I researchers and fostering youth capacity in D& I science to advocate for evidence-informed policy and research aimed at ending the HIV epidemic in Africa. Using Youth Participatory Action Research which considers young people as experts of their own experiences and facilitates their involvement as co-creators of knowledge and Knowledge to Action Framework which facilitates the use of research knowledge by several actors, including young people themselves, our specific aims are; 1) (Pre-Conference) Implement an HIV-related dissemination and implementation (D&I) science pre- conference course for adolescents and young people, including five youth fellows recruited via participatory approaches, to accelerate action to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030; 2) (Conference) Convene an in-person conference of key actors to deliberate on and inform the implementation of contextualized HIV EBIs for adolescents and young people using D&I frameworks and strategies to advance the 95-95-95 strategy in Africa; and 3) (Post-Conference) Initiate and accelerate scientific progress through youth-driven dissemination products and formation of virtual participatory learning committee to sustain youth engagement. We expect findings of the workshop to help accelerate efforts to end the HIV epidemic Africa using context- specific D&I strategies and frameworks as led by young people for young people.