i am so sad i wasnt able to make it to YES mexico... would like to know more from those who has attended... and what is the plan for the next 2 years... where is the next venue selected....

let me know if you have any clue...
Rateb

Afghan condoms a hard sell
News24.com, South Africa
Edited by Duane Heath
05/04/2004



Kabul - In the country that gave birth to the Taliban movement and
where Islam rules supreme, a small revolution is taking place. Next
week, an American aid agency will begin a major condom campaign in
conservative Afghanistan - without using the word 'sex'.



The Washington-based social marketing group Population Services
International (PSI) has already begun to distribute about 1.6
million 'Number One' condoms for sale at the subsidised price of one
Afghani (about 14c) in the pharmacies and grocery stores of five
major cities.



The project, which began quietly in January in the Afghan capital
Kabul, has already been a success, organisers say.



But they face their biggest challenge when they begin a "culturally
adapted" public awareness campaign next week with radio spots,
sponsorships and billboards advertising their birth control product.



"Nearly 400 000 condoms have been sold in four months," said PSI's
Andrew Miller, explaining that the project answered a demand for
condoms in Afghanistan.



But because of the cultural context, he said, "we must, however,
adopt a soft approach so as not to offend Afghan sensitivities".



Although no longer bound by the fundamentalist dictates of the
Taliban, Afghan society remains profoundly conservative and sexually
repressive. Sexual relations remains a taboo subject.



Prophylactics first appeared in Afghanistan during the Soviet
invasion of the 1980s. Today they are widely available in most
pharmacies but aren't big sellers - and are always hidden.



Flavoured



The PSI awareness campaign will be suitably modest - the condoms for
sale will not be flavoured, perfumed, textured or labelled "extra
fine".



'Number Ones' will be sold in navy cardboard packs of three with
bright yellow writing devoid of sexual references. Only the "1" of
the 'Number One' name evokes a vague phallic symbol, or so say the
marketers, otherwise the packaging could be that of lollies,
batteries or motor oil.



"It has been a real headache to translate the instructions (inside
the packet) and to design packaging which doesn't shock," said
Emmanuel de Dinechin of Altai Consulting, which advised on the
product.



"Afghans' ignorance about sexuality is abysmal, and the work of
educating them is immense," he added.



And not without cultural barriers. For example, it would be
unthinkable to use a diagram to illustrate how to put on a condom. Or
to directly translate into local languages Dari and Pashto
instructions issued with condoms in Western countries. Some words -
like 'sex' - are simply not acceptable.



"For the publicity campaign, we must use very neutral slogans," said
Miller.



PSI abandoned their initial slogan - "Have a smaller family" - as
unsuitable for a country where a woman is expected to have five or
six babies.



The more vague, "Have a more comfortable life, make your family
Number One", will be used instead.

Afghan youngsters are to take to the football pitch wearing strips donated by British clubs including Manchester United, Leeds and Newcastle United.

The clubs are among 22 UK teams who have given kits to the Afghan Football Association to help it get the game back on its feet after long years of civil war and repressive rule under the Taliban.

Kabul´s Ghazi National Stadium was used by the Taliban for executions and only returned to its proper use in February with the FA-backed Game of Unity between peacekeepers and local players.

Former Southampton manager Lawrie McMenemy, who led the sides out for that match, joined representatives of the teams donating kits and Afghan youngsters at a reception hosted by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to promote educational and sporting links with Afghanistan.

Mr Straw said: "Football in Afghanistan was banned by the Taliban - we all remember the terrible images of the National Stadium being used for public executions.

"Well, Afghanistan is back playing again, kicking off earlier this year with a match against British and other soldiers from the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul.

"And I am delighted that so many of our leading football clubs have donated complete sets of strips for new Afghan teams that are sprouting up. I would like to thank all the clubs who contributed.

"Let is hope that football helps to further unite - friendly local derbies aside - and inspire the people of Afghanistan as they go about rebuilding their nation."

KABUL, Afghanistan - Schoolgirls showered Muhammad Ali with flower petals Monday during the former heavyweight champ's visit to a U.N.-sponsored school in Afghanistan's capital.

Ali, who made the trip to Kabul as a "U.N. Messenger of Peace," signed autographs and handed out volleyballs and jumping ropes.

Ronald A. DiNicola, who served as the boxing legend's personal attorney for 15 years, said Ali came because he wanted to help focus world attention on Afghanistan's massive humanitarian needs - which might be overshadowed if the United States goes to war with Iraq.

"He wants to keep the spotlight of international attention on what's going on here," DiNicola told The Associated Press. "Especially in light of other world events."

The 60-year-old former heavyweight champion, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, walked slowly and hardly spoke as he toured a girls' school in western Kabul.

But his sense of humor was intact. As he positioned himself in a chair surrounded by dozens of Afghan girls under a tent, Ali smiled - and pretended to snore - when a group of waiting photographers were slow to take his picture.

Girls were banned from going to school under the former Taliban government, which was ousted in a U.S.-led war last year.

Ali arrived in Kabul on Sunday and met President Hamid Karzai at the presidential palace. On Monday he also paid a visit to a women's bakery sponsored by the U.N. World Food Program.

Later, he made a private trip to a mud-walled boxing club - featuring two vintage, framed photos of a younger Ali in the ring - and handed out gifts of gloves and jump ropes.

After slowly shaking the hands of 20 young boxers, Ali seemed to regain his strength, taking a minute to pound a red and blue punching bag as a small crowd cheered him on.

He watched several young men spar in a makeshift boxing ring before donning a pair of red gloves and stepping in himself to briefly box with two Afghans. His opponents threw no punches.

DiNicola said Ali, a devout Muslim, felt at home in the Islamic world.

"He loves to travel to this region. He feels very much at home here," DiNicola said.

Ali, one of the world's best known faces, is one of dozens of celebrities who have served as U.N. goodwill ambassadors or "Messengers for Peace," helping raise awareness and money for the world's poor and war-battered nations.

Over the decades, Ali became one of sport's most beloved figures and is often ranked as the greatest athlete of the past century.

The World Health Organization and Afghan medical teams were sent to northern Afghanistan on Thursday to investigate reports that 70 children died there in one week after falling ill, a U.N. spokeswoman said.

WHO spokeswoman Loretta Hieber Girardet said the illness was likely to be whooping cough or diphtheria. Those affected lived in remote Badakshan province, she said.

"The reports that we´ve heard came from local commanders who directed a message to the governor of Badakshan reporting that 70 children had died due to coughing and suffocation," Girardet said.

Measles was also possible, but Girardet said that was unlikely because many children in the area had been vaccinated against the disease.

Medical teams and supplies from the Ministry of Health and WHO were dispatched from Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Thursday, and another team left earlier, Girardet said. They will travel by plane or horseback.

Whooping cough and diphtheria are infectious diseases that can be prevented by vaccines. However, Girardet said 70 percent of Afghans have no access to medical care