In many sub-Saharan African countries, declines in child mortality combined with a slow decline in fertility have resulted in children and young adults comprising a large part of the overall population. This is known as the youth bulge. The youth bulge is not new. Younger generations have almost always been larger than the previous generation. However, before the twentieth century, high child mortality meant that a large proportion of children did not survive to adulthood.

This document provides an overview of the latest available UNAIDS data on youth and HIV, including new indicators reported for the first time on consent requirements to access services, access to CSE, and youth participation in the HIV response. It also provides an explanation of youth participation through the three-lens approach, engaging youth as beneficiaries, partners and leaders, adapted to the HIV response, as a recommendation for policy-makers, programmers, implementers and other stakeholders to strive for better and greater youth participation, fulfil the commitments in the 2016 Political Declaration, and end AIDS by 2030.

This edition of UNAIDS data highlights these challenges and successes. It contains the very latest data on the world’s response to HIV, consolidating a small part of the huge volume of data collected, analysed and refined by UNAIDS over the years. The full data set of information for 1990 to 2017 is available on aidsinfo.unaids.org.

This brochure highlights some of the key remarks made by Member States at this year’s gathering on the state of the worldwide response to HIV. While much progress has been made, there is a clear agreement that we still have a long way to go. The disproportionate effect of the HIV epidemic on young women and adolescent girls, and the slow uptake of HIV services by men and boys, are but a few of the challenges that need to be addressed.

The seventy-second session of the General Assembly coincides with the halfway point of the fast-track phase of the global HIV response. Epidemiological and programme data reported by countries show that the world is making strong progress.

Gender equality in the workplace is a human right and critical to the performance and effectiveness of UNAIDS. Organizations with more equal representation of women at the senior management level considerably outperform their counterparts with a lower representation of women in senior positions. Gender-balanced teams have greater potential for creativity and innovation and contribute to better outcomes in decisionmaking. The centrality of advancing gender equality, including through the achievement of gender parity, is increasingly being recognized, as signalled by the historic System-wide Strategy on Gender Parity, launched by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2017.

The report sets out the status of women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, and on health systems and social and environmental determinants. Regional dashboards on 16 key indicators highlight where progress is being made or lagging. There is progress overall, but not at the level required to achieve the 2030 goals. There are some areas where progress has stalled or is reversing, namely neonatal mortality, gender inequalities and health in humanitarian settings. The report also highlights new evidence with a special focus on early childhood development as a foundation for health and well-being across the life course. There are new estimates on the causes of death in children older than 5 years; most are preventable. Each section of the report highlights strategic priorities, interventions and approaches that could help countries address challenges and accelerate progress.

This first progress report shows that members of the Global HIV Prevention Coalition have mobilized around strengthening HIV primary prevention. There are clear signs of renewed political commitment and strengthened institutional arrangements for planning and managing prevention programmes. Most member countries have moved fast to develop HIV prevention action plans, and there are many examples of excellent and innovative new initiatives. Furthermore, interest in the HIV prevention agenda and the Coalition is growing. A global accountability process has been set up, with score cards that track progress across a range of high-priority prevention programme areas.