The inaugural UNITED! leadership summit, created by youth networks Y+ Global and AfriYan with support from U.N. agencies, this week brought together young delegates representing organizations working with HIV, SRHR and adolescent girls and young women.
"It’s critical for young people, in all their diversity, to unite, lead and collaborate for better access to health services, commodities and information to improve their health and well-being," Teboho Mohloai, secretary general of AfriYAN Eastern and Southern Africa, said in a statement.
Southern and eastern Africa accounts for more than 60% of children and adolescents living with HIV worldwide with girls among the hardest-hit, according to the United Nations Children's Fund. U.N. member states have committed to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
“I think for a lot of people here, we all understand that we have a role to play and that we can't end AIDS by 2030 without having everybody involved — it’s everybody who’s living with HIV, anyone who is affected by HIV,” Eddy Rudram, communications and advocacy manager at Y+ Global, told VOA.
“We have LGBTIQ populations here, we have sex workers and different key populations. So we are bringing all these diverse groups of people because we know that they can't work in this field without collaborating and partnering with each other so that we can end AIDS by 2030,” he added.
Joyce Ouma, an advocacy and campaigns officer at Y+ Global, says the summit has provided a safe environment for young people to speak openly about the issues they face.
“One thing that we've been able to do as a network, and also I've been able to do at a personal level as a young woman living with HIV from sub-Saharan Africa, is to create a platform for young people to be able to advocate for themselves, a safe space where they can come and talk about their issues. And that's exactly what we are doing in this summit,” Ouma said.
Mateus Kambuze of the United Youth Charity Association in Namibia says while promoting HIV and sexual and reproductive health has proved challenging for years, he hopes his generation will bring lasting change.
“The issues we tackle or the issues we’ve been tackling are not just issues that come one day and leave one day. These are issues that were faced by (various) generations. And if you see that it keeps on going, then you must realize that there is a system that is being used that is not working," he said.
“It's up to my generation to ensure that the issues we are facing right now do not affect the upcoming generation.”
