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Ammon News - Jordan Times - By delivering a message to youths through the performing arts, young celebrities can help spread awareness on pertinent issues, Y-PEER ambassadors said.

Sammy Sheikh, an actor and an ambassador for Y-PEER, said young people learn more from movies, through which messages can be delivered in an interactive way.

It was this reason that encouraged Sheikh to become a Y-PEER ambassador.

In certain societies and schools, it is not acceptable to talk about sensitive issues such as HIV/AIDS or family planning, he said.

Therefore, raising awareness on these issues through drama will help deliver the message in a more acceptable manner.

Sheikh became a Y-PEER ambassador three years ago after acting in a short educational film in the US about violence against women.

Y-PEER, the Youth Peer Education Network, is a youth-to-youth initiative pioneered by the UNFPA. Jordan joined it in late 2008.

The initiative includes a network of nonprofit organisations and government institutions with the membership of thousands of young people who work in areas related to adolescent reproductive health.

The 32-year-old actor and singer also said he takes part in sessions organised by Y-PEER in different countries of the world to interact with young people in discussions about issues of importance and interest to their generation.

“Currently, I am thinking of doing a movie about these issues but in a different way, by tackling these issues through a series of incidents in everyday life,” Sheikh told The Jordan Times in a recent interview in Amman.

The Y-PEER network aims at encouraging young people to promote healthy lifestyles through peer-to-peer approaches to empower them to make responsible decisions about their lives and lifestyle through interactive youth-friendly methods and tools.

In addition, it educates them about HIV/AIDS and reproductive health.

So far, 650 young people have taken part in training provided by 50 active trainers from Y-PEER Jordan.

Dani Dimitrovska, a Macedonian pop music singer and another Y-PEER ambassador, said she spread the message through her songs.

“My songs are all about positive messages,” Dimitrovska told The Jordan Times, adding that this is her seventh year as an ambassador for Y-PEER.

Noting that three of her songs are about HIV/AIDS, the pop singer said she started her mission by talking to young people about their dreams and interests to better address the issues they face in her songs.

The 34-year-old singer also said she goes to schools in her country to train students on reproductive health devices and how to make their own decisions.

What helps her address young people in different countries is that they share the same concerns, she noted.