Young people

Discussions about sex and HIV in Indonesia remain highly taboo, while the limited information that exists is often unclear, not easy to digest or contradictory. That’s why many young people are turning towards new technology platforms to seek answers to questions that affect their health and well-being. 

In an attempt to improve the quality of information provided to young people, the UNAIDS Country Office in Indonesia has developed Tanya Marlo, or Ask Marlo, a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence and designed to be the go-to source for all things HIV-related.

Marlo is a cute character who provides basic information about HIV through user-friendly content such as infographics, quizzes and FAQs (frequently asked questions). In just a few taps, Ask Marlo users can also book HIV testing appointments at health centres across Jakarta, Indonesia. Young people looking for a more in-depth chat are connected to real counsellors, who are on standby to talk, provide guidance and make referrals to specialized services.

The counsellors receive many questions on how to access HIV services and HIV treatment.

“Many people, particularly young people, in Jakarta still do not know basic information about HIV. I hope that as a counsellor on Marlo, I can change that,” one of the counsellors said.

The Ask Marlo chatbot is integrated into the LINE chat messaging application. Users looking to chat to Marlo can simply add @tanyamarlo on LINE and begin chatting. Indonesia is one of LINE’s top markets, with around 90 million users. Around 80% of its users are young people, many of whom use LINE Today to get news and information and to shop.

Since launching on 1 December 2018, Ask Marlo has increased the number of its users, reaching almost 3000 followers at the end of March. Reviews of Ask Marlo bear witness to how important and necessary the service is for young people.  

Upon seeing Ask Marlo for the first time, a psychology graduate from the University of Indonesia said, “It is so youth-friendly! My friends and I use LINE a lot, so this is the perfect platform for Ask Marlo. I am surprised that a chatbot can be used to teach about things as complex as HIV.”

A university student at the Atma Jaya University likes the anonymity provided by the application. “With Ask Marlo, we don’t have to be ashamed to ask anything related to HIV.”

University students, young professionals, communities, civil society activists and the Ministry of Health have endorsed Ask Marlo. Besides students and young professionals, several social media influencers and YouTube personalities have also given their stamp of approval. Their endorsement of Ask Marlo has helped to promote the chatbot to wider audiences. The idea is to eventually expand to offer testing in other major cities across Indonesia.

“Without our voice, you are doing it for you, not for us”, said Winny Obure, a youth leader and women’s rights defender from Kenya, at the United Nations in New York, United States of America.

She was joined by other young women demanding the removal of barriers to their sexual and reproductive rights and for adolescent girls to be empowered. The event—Step It Up!—was a call to action for the most left behind adolescent girls and was convened by UNAIDS, the ATHENA Network, the Governments of Australia and Namibia, and UN Women, with 25 partners from the United Nations and civil society.

Adolescent girls and young women are still disproportionally affected by HIV. One million adolescent girls live with HIV globally and every week 7000 adolescent girls and young women become infected with HIV. Comprehensive sexuality education is so limited that levels of knowledge about HIV prevention among young people have remained flat over the past 20 years.

“We will not reach the Sustainable Development Goals if the voices and aspirations of adolescent girls are oppressed,” said Gunilla Carlsson, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance.“Where is the accountability for the millions of adolescent girls being left behind?”

All too often, adolescent girls remain invisible to decision-makers, especially if they belong to groups that are discriminated against, criminalized or stigmatized. As many of the participants pointed out, they are subjected to human rights violations, including violence and harmful practices, and denial of their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

“We need to move away from these meeting rooms and go to communities to talk to adolescent girls and young women. We need to address the uniqueness of specific groups of girls, of their specific needs .We have the solutions, it’s just a matter of including us in the discussion,” said Maximina Jokonya, a young woman from Zimbabwe.

“Teenage girls are often out of sight and out of mind and they are not where the power is, it’s still with men,” said Sharman Stone, Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls. She highlighted the barriers that girls face in the Pacific, where they are denied contraception and subjected to high levels of violence. She said that a key priority for Australia during humanitarian crises is to ensure access to sexual and reproductive health services.

The Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare of Namibia, Doreen Sioka, spoke about championing the rights of adolescent girls and young women, comprehensive sexuality education and integrated sexual and reproductive health and HIV services. She outlined major achievements in fulfilling international HIV targets. A new law in Namibia enshrines the right of all children to access critical services—at 14 years of age, children can now be tested for HIV without permission from their parents or guardians.

The young women at the event underscored their realities and restricted opportunities, as well as what works to improve their lives. Deneka Thomas, from Trinidad and Tobago, described how she uses art in schools to interact with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people and girls traumatized by bullying, rape and other forms of violence.

Raouf Kamel of AIDS Algérie spoke about the first-ever initiative in the Middle East and North Africa to hear the voices and experiences of especially marginalized groups of women. They had all experienced violence, pointing to adolescence as a crucial point in life when the risks to their health and safety, and of HIV infection, are especially marked.

The participants concluded that much more needs to be done to address the needs and rights of adolescent. Investing in inclusive, quality education, in HIV, sexual and reproductive health services and in mental health is key. Other important actions include preventing and responding to gender-based violence, promoting women’s rights, engaging boys and investing in youth organizations and community-based initiatives led by, and for, young women.

The event was held on 13 March on the margins of the sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

Ahead of Zero Discrimination Day, young people came together in Cairo, Egypt, to learn how to respond to HIV-related stigma and discrimination and to hear about how the HIV epidemic affects Egypt and the role that young people can play in the AIDS response.

“The burden of the epidemic is higher on young people. In Egypt, it is for young people to lead the HIV response,” said Walid Kamal, Egypt’s National AIDS Programme Manager.

During a discussion on stigma and discrimination, people living with HIV shared some of their testimonies and experiences, helping to give the participants a deeper understanding of how stigma and discrimination affects people living with HIV.

“It is our responsibility to help people living with HIV feel part of the community,” said one of the participating young people.

“It is not only about AIDS, it is about social justice, equality, the empowerment of women and promoting healthy gender norms,” said Ahmed Khamis, the UNAIDS Country Manager for Egypt.

The participants also learned how to plan, design and implement online awareness and advocacy campaigns on social media.

At the end of the meeting, organized by UNAIDS and the National AIDS Programme and held on 21 February, the young people agreed to lead social media campaigns to highlight the harm caused by stigma and discrimination. Starting on 1 March, Zero Discrimination Day, and running for three weeks, the campaigns will be supported by the UNAIDS country office in Egypt and are endorsed by Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population.

Colour my HIV is an HIV prevention and empowerment campaign led by and focused on young people in South Africa. It was launched on World AIDS Day 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The aim of the campaign is to create an information platform to debunk myths and misconceptions about HIV in order to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination, increase knowledge of HIV by presenting new findings by experts and researchers, promote human rights, advocate for political commitment and accountability by policy-makers and other partners and highlight issues around HIV prevention among young people.

UNAIDS sat down with Sibulele Sibaca, the founder of the campaign, to ask her a few questions.

Question: Describe Colour my HIV in five words

Vibrant. Youthful. Life-changing. Futuristic.

Hopeful in all that we do. We hope that by 2030 we will end AIDS. With Colour my HIV we’re hopeful that young people themselves will change the course of HIV.

Question: What do you want to achieve with Colour my HIV?

Firstly, I want get to a point in South Africa where being HIV-positive is like having any other chronic disease—diabetes, high blood pressure—in that it’s a manageable illness.

Secondly, to change the narrative where people think that when you contract HIV it is a death sentence. It’s no longer that at all. South Africa has one of the most well-implemented HIV treatment programmes in the world. I remember when a very close person in my life contracted HIV, the doctor said, “You should be so glad you got HIV in South Africa. This is the country to be in when you have HIV. In other countries people are still crying for HIV treatment and you have it here; all you have to do is adhere to it.”

Thirdly, the stigma around testing for HIV is that if I test positive I am going to die, so people must know that they will not die when they are HIV-positive. It’s one of the reasons I have called the campaign Colour my HIV. We must own it. We must celebrate how far we’ve come with HIV as a country. Let’s not discriminate or stigmatize, instead we must go out and get tested for HIV.

Question: Why the focus on young people?

Primarily, we were thinking of adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 years, because they are the most at risk of HIV infection in South Africa. In this age group, nine girls contract HIV every hour in South Africa. My question is, how and why? Where are they? What are the circumstances that lead to the moment they contract HIV? Are they hungry? This group can be influenced. The messages planted in their heads are critical, as they are still growing. So, Colour my HIV looks to be that voice of reason, to teach and educate them about why they should get tested, to prevent themselves from contracting HIV.

However, it is difficult to focus on girls in isolation. We can’t solely speak to girls, we have to engage boys as well. Men and boys hardly visit the clinic, test or take medication. They have to be included in the narrative, which is why Colour my HIV focuses on young people in general.

Question: Where do you see Colour my HIV in five years?

In the short term, we are looking to start touring South Africa from April until the next World AIDS Day, going into communities and really just spreading HIV awareness. As HIV is not only an issue on World AIDS Day, we are looking to engage communities on how they can embrace HIV and live in colour.

We actually need to end AIDS by 2030. We have 11 years to go. So, the question is what are we doing now? Hopefully this year we are going to take Colour my HIV countrywide. In the next three years, I want to see it journey from the Cape to Cairo. When they talk about ending AIDS by 2030, I want Colour my HIV to be part of the narrative.

DAKAR/GENEVA, 16 January 2019—At a high-level meeting in Dakar, Senegal, UNAIDS, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) urged countries in western and central Africa to do more to stop new HIV infections among children and adolescents and increase HIV testing and treatment coverage.

In 2017, around 67 000 children (aged 0–9 years) and 69 000 adolescents (aged 10–19 years) became newly infected with HIV. Two thirds (46 000) of adolescents newly infected with the virus were girls. While progress has been seen in stopping new HIV infections among children in some countries—eleven countries registered a reduction of more than 35% between 2010 and 2017[1]—others, including Nigeria, which has the largest epidemic in the region, experienced no declines at all.

“Countries in western and central Africa have a real opportunity to create a positive change for children and young people,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Underlying issues including a lack of domestic investment, fragile health systems, user fees, gender inequality and widespread stigma and discrimination must urgently be addressed to remove barriers and save lives.”

In western and central Africa, close to 800 000 children and adolescents aged between 0 and 19 years were living with HIV in 2017—the second highest number in the world after eastern and southern Africa.

“The majority of children living with HIV in this region are not receiving care and treatment because they do not know they have HIV as they have not been tested,” said Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa. “We can reverse that trend by focusing on a family-centered approach to HIV testing and treatment and by rolling out innovative point-of-care technologies that bring testing closer to the primary health facilities and the communities where children live.”

Less than half of all pregnant women living with HIV in the region (47%) had access to antiretroviral medicines to prevent transmission of the virus to their child and only 21% of infants exposed to HIV were tested for the virus within the first two months of life.

We should not lose anymore of Africa’s future to AIDS,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Effectively tackling HIV in children and adolescents needs strong and quality health services. By committing to universal health coverage, countries can fast-track progress towards an AIDS-free generation in western and central Africa.”

Although there has been some progress in antiretroviral therapy coverage for children in western and central Africa, which rose from 18% in 2014 to 26% in 2017, the region still has the lowest coverage in the world. Around 52 000 children and adolescents aged between 0 and 19 years died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2017—34 000 of whom died before they reached their fifth birthday.

In the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on Ending AIDS, countries from western and central Africa committed to work towards reducing the number of new HIV infections among children and young adolescents (under 15 years) to 6000 by 2020 and to ensuring access to treatment for 340 000 children and young adolescents (under 15 years) by 2020.

However, pledges to accelerate the HIV response have not been accompanied by a surge in resource mobilization. The total resources needed for an effective response in western and central Africa were 81% greater than the funds available in 2017.

Translating commitments into action requires engagement from political and community leaders, drastically scaling up investments, scaling up innovative technologies such as point-of-care for early infant diagnosis, differentiated service delivery strategies—including family testing and longer prescriptions for antiretroviral medicines—and task-shifting approaches applied to HIV care and treatment services for children across the region.

As part of concerted efforts to step up progress in the region, UNAIDS, UNICEF and WHO called a High-Level Meeting on the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Universal Health Coverage of Paediatric HIV Testing and Treatment in West and Central Africa to unpack the challenges, share best practices and innovative approaches to address the persisting bottlenecks, agree on corrective actions and ensure commitment to action from countries and partners.

Hosted by the Government of Senegal, the meeting is being held in Dakar from 16 to 18 January 2019, bringing together ministers of health, experts, representatives of civil society and partners from across the region as well as high-level representatives of United Nations organizations, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the Economic Community of Central African States.

During the meeting, countries and partners are expected to renew their commitment to the 2015 Dakar Call to Action for Accelerating the Elimination of New HIV Infections in Children and Access to Treatment for Children and Adolescents Living with HIV by 2020.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

A new regional civil society cooperation network for the Americas and the Caribbean to support nongovernmental organizations working to end AIDS was launched on 30 October in Quito, Ecuador. Launched by Coalition PLUS, the initiative will support coordination and capacity-building among community organizations involved in the AIDS responses of North, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

“Although we have HIV services available, people do not have access because they are criminalized and stigmatized. The community movement is helping us to end the conspiracy of silence about discrimination. We need civil society to increase efforts to achieve the progressive policies that will clear the way for us to end AIDS,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director.

Since 2014, Coalition PLUS—an international alliance of more than 100 nongovernmental organizations contributing to the AIDS response—has been building and strengthening mechanisms for regional collaboration. Such networks already exist in western Africa, central Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, the Indian Ocean and Europe.

The President of Coalition PLUS, Hakima Himmich, said that the network will increase access by organizations to new resources and approaches relevant to their local contexts. She noted that it was especially important to strengthen civil society’s capacity around addressing the needs of the most vulnerable.

“We have huge challenges around stigma and discrimination against entire populations. In order to achieve epidemic control, we must also address human rights,” said Ms Himmich.

UNAIDS data show that in 2017 key populations and their sexual partners accounted for three quarters of new HIV infections in Latin America and two thirds of new infections in the Caribbean. Gay men and other men who have sex with men and transgender women are disproportionately affected, with a few countries reporting HIV rates of above 15% among those communities.

The activities of the network in the region will be coordinated by the Kimirina Corporation, a Ecuadorian organization focused on people-centred combination prevention and advocacy. Amira Herdoiza, Director of the Kimirina Corporation, explained that the platform will place strong emphasis on coordinated research, skills-building and advocacy, particularly around issues affecting young people and key populations. 

“We need more multicountry research to show the nuances of our epidemics,” Ms Herdoiza said. “Through this network our organizations’ capacities to share and analyse data will be strengthened. We will also focus on sharing experiences and planning joint programmes.”

At present, there are three other members of the regional network: the Coalition of Quebec Community Organizations against AIDS in Canada; AIDES in the French Caribbean; and the Institute for Human Development in the Plurinational State of Bolivia. Other regional organizations are invited to be part of the initiative.

UNAIDS’ unwavering commitment praised by the President

GENEVA, 25 October 2018—The President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi E.K. Masisi, visited UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on 25 October 2018 to share Botswana’s vision on a key public health concern: HIV.

The President met the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, and congratulated UNAIDS for leading the AIDS agenda with humility and professionalism. 

“We continue to count on your stewardship,” said Mr Masisi. “Botswana stands ready to sprint the last mile to end AIDS as a public health threat.”

Two decades ago, AIDS ravaged the small southern African nation of 2 million. Today, despite having one of the highest rates of HIV in the world – 23% of adults live with HIV- Botswana has shown remarkable progress. New HIV infections have been reduced by 63% since the peak in 1996 and AIDS-related deaths have decreased to 4100 from 15 000 in 2008. It was the first country in the region to provide universal, free antiretroviral treatment to people living with HIV, paving the way for many other countries in the region to follow.

Mr Sidibé described the President as an advocate for the region. “Mr Masisi is bringing new energy and impetus to the AIDS response in Botswana with a focus on HIV prevention,” said Mr Sidibé. The President participated in a moderated dialogue along with a high-level delegation that included the Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation and the Minister of Health and Wellbeing as well as the First Lady of Botswana. During the discussions, the President described Botswana’s financial investments in health, HIV and its people.  He highlighted that mother-to-child HIV transmission is on the verge of being eliminated and that more than 80% of people living with HIV are on treatment.

However, challenges remain. “When you disempower a young girl through violence or unwanted sexual experience, she is affected for life,” Mr Masisi said. In order to curtail new HIV infections, the President committed to redefining the roles and engagement of young boys and men. Mr Masisi and Mr Sidibé then recognized former President Festus Mogae’s long-standing efforts to turn the country around from despair to hope when Botswana faced the HIV crisis initially.  

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Twenty-four young people gathered in Suva, Fiji, to take stock of the country’s progress in meeting the commitments in the 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS and to identify what puts young people at risk of HIV.

The participants recognized that Fiji has taken important steps to establish laws and policies that enhance young people’s access to sexual, reproductive and HIV services. However, they noted that there are many factors that jeopardize young people’s health, including stigma and discrimination, limited access to condoms and a lack of harm reduction programmes for young drug users.

“Many young people have basic knowledge about HIV, its transmission and prevention. Many of them are not aware that antiretroviral treatment exists. It is critical that young people have access to information which is detailed and are informed on where they can obtain it,” said Swastika Devi, from the Reproductive Family Health Association of Fiji.

Greater technical and financial support for participation by young people in community responses to HIV was identified as important. The consensus from the group was that capacity-building of youth leaders should be supported, including leaders from communities, key populations and people living with HIV, in order to enhance their engagement in advocacy and decision-making.

The participants also agreed to form a sexual and reproductive health and rights youth network, which will finalize an advocacy road map focusing on their priority issues, which are youth-friendly services at clinics, developing a standard package of youth-centred services and comprehensive sexuality education that goes beyond puberty. The network has established contact with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services and Fiji’s national steering committee for World AIDS Day to strengthen youth-focused activities for World AIDS Day.

“The #UPROOT consultation has given us the reality of how the commitments in the 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS affect young people in Fiji,” said Renata Ram, UNAIDS Country Director for Fiji. “Young people continue to be left behind in the AIDS response, despite being the age group most affected by the epidemic. The future of the HIV epidemic in Fiji will be determined by how we package our services towards young people. Failing to do so will push us further from ending AIDS.”

The consultation was part of the #UPROOT youth-led political agenda, launched by the PACT, a global coalition supported by UNAIDS of more than 80 youth organizations and networks working on HIV to respond to the barriers that put young people at risk of HIV. Similar #UPROOT meetings have taken place in Panama, Cameroon and Ghana.

A global coalition of more than 80 youth organizations working on HIV (the PACT), and Youth Voices Count (YVC) launched a poll to get a sense of what young people know about sexual reproductive health.

More than half of the 270,000 young people aged 10-24 from 21 countries who responded to the U-Report poll (54% of boys and young men, and 58% of girls and young women) sought HIV and other services at a health centre or clinic in the previous three months.  About 36% of young people aged 10-24 who did not seek services reported feeling uncomfortable visiting a health centre or clinic, and more than 28% of young people (both sexes) said they felt scared to seek services.

The poll with support from UNAIDS, UNICEF and UNFPA was complemented by an in-depth survey and interviews led by YVC, which showed that approximately 15% of those who accessed any sexual health services in the past 6 months experienced refusal or mistreatment because of their age, sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status. And of those who felt mistreated because of their age, 55% identified as gay, bisexual, and 25% identified themselves as living with HIV. Further, 32% of young gay, bisexual men and other young men who have sex with men, and 50% of young transgender people, felt that they had been discriminated against because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. Finally,16% of young people who identified themselves as living with HIV said they had been mistreated because of their HIV status.

Although healthcare settings should be safe spaces for those receiving care, this is not the case. Policies and attitudes remain barriers to youth-friendly HIV and sexual and reproductive health services. Indeed, 37% of respondents who reported having visited a clinic were not willing to recommend doing so to their peers.

This year’s theme for International Youth Day is Safe Spaces for Youth, highlighting the need of young people for safe spaces to come together, hang out, and participate in decision making processes as well as freely express themselves. This includes in healthcare settings, which should be places of safety and refuge, free from stigma, maltreatment, and violence.

Every day, approximately 1600 young people are infected with HIV, while one young person dies of AIDS-related illnesses every 10 minutes. Young women aged 15-24 are particularly affected. In sub-Saharan Africa, young women are twice as likely to be infected with HIV as their male counterparts. And young key populations (including gay men and other men who have sex with men, bisexual people, transgender people, young sex workers and young people who inject drugs) are at a high risk of HIV around the world due to rights violations, discrimination, exclusion, criminalization and violence. Of the young people living with HIV globally, most do not know their status.

Download more slides like this from 2018 Global AIDS Update Miles to Go 

Sitting on center stage, clutching a microphone, Chinmay Modi along with a dozen young people answered questions about HIV during an all-youth panel session at the Amsterdam 2018 AIDS conference.

The 25-year-old born with HIV described his struggle accessing services. "In India, sex is a big taboo. A 16-year-old cannot buy condoms for example and parents need to give consent to be tested for HIV." He said educating children and parents is key. His greatest desire involves pushing for specific youth-focused services.

Dany Stolbunov from Ukraine echoed that sentiment, saying "Nothing for us, without us." He said that in his region stigma and discrimination kept people from even accessing services. He bemoaned the fact that young people in Ukraine have limited information and are not seen as a priority.  

HIV FACTS

In 2017, there were approximately 250 000 new HIV infections and 38 000 AIDS-related deaths among adolescents and 1.8 million adolescents living with HIV globally.

Adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa are disproportionately affected by new HIV infections, making up 56% of new HIV infections among adolescents globally.

HIV is a leading cause of death among adolescents (10-19 years).

"We are ready to fight for our rights," he added, explaining that young people have a voice and want to use it.

Bruna Martinez strongly believes that broad sexual education discussing gender, health issues and pleasure would not only limit stigma, it would also make teenagers fear HIV less.

"HIV should not be in a vacuum," she said. "We are a generation that can discuss sex and that's a great thing; so give us the tools that tip things in our favor."

All agreed that teenagers and young people have the most at stake in ending the HIV epidemic. Their demand is clear: go beyond scholarships by empowering us.

Melodi Tamarzians, the Dutch youth ambassador for sexual and reproductive health and rights, said, "Do not tick the youth box by giving us a token position." In her view, to enable young people, adults need to invest in them and give them advisory roles.

AIDS 2018 prided itself on giving a greater space to young people in Amsterdam. Youth and junior investigators made up more than one-third of the submissions presented at the conference, according to the conference organizer, the International AIDS Society (IAS.) In addition, young people got the most scholarships than at any other conference. And the Global Village (a free admission space by the conference area) featured the largest space conceived of and run by young people. It included a snack area, a mini-indoor football field, a safe-space theater area and youth-led activities, and booths such as a radio recording area, a youth against AIDS t-shirt stand and even an exhibit about the vagina.

Ms Martinez volunteered and then worked with the Amsterdam Youth Force that mobilized and organized other young people to make the youth space their own. "At this conference, we showed everybody that we could deliver," she said.

She hopes that this meaningful youth presence will carry over. "It's important that we are not being catered to but rather that we are recognized," she said, her AIDS 2018 lanyard laden with pins and stickers. She sees her recent stint with the Youth Force as a way to change things. "There are still so many young people getting infected with HIV and dying. It means we are failing and the system is not working," Ms Martinez said. In her view, HIV policy has to also come from the ground upwards. She emphasized peer-to-peer education and valuing local knowledge. Standing in front of a huge 'Let's face HIV together' she said, "We speak the language of the young people and we know what we are living, so acknowledge us fully."