On the eve of the World Economic Forum on Africa, a group of the world’s most exceptional young leaders have combined forces to tackle one of the most pressing global health problems in the place where it is most keenly felt – the HIV crisis in Africa.
The Forum of Young Global Leaders (YGL) is a multistakeholder community of young leaders committed to shaping the future, with a focus on collective action and tangible results. Kate Roberts, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader since 2007, led around 30 of her contemporaries through one of the poorest townships in South Africa to meet with those most affected by the disease. Roberts is Vice-President of Corporate Marketing & Communications at PSI and is the Founder of one of PSI’s global HIV education and prevention programmes, YouthAIDS.
The visit to the Khayelitsha Township – just 30 kilometres from central Cape Town where the World Economic Forum on Africa is being held – took place in three parts.
Their first stop was a local high school, where the YGLs developed an understanding of HIV prevention objectives across Africa and the challenges inherent in the grassroots implementation of those objectives.
The second part of the journey took place at the local community and in partnership with another non-profit HIV prevention organization, also co-founded by a Young Global Leader, Dennis Karpes. Dance4life works throughout South Africa and in 20 other countries across the globe, inspiring, mobilizing and uniting young people, through the universal language of music and dance, to fight against HIV and AIDS for life.
The day ended with a panel discussion focused on creating tangible solutions and meaningful action to reduce the spread of HIV, specifically by harnessing the power of the private sector and through innovative models of success within the sector.
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