"The youth of the world have never known a time without HIV/AIDS"

The HIV/AIDS 25th Anniversary UN Youth Summit is occuring this week in New York and the preliminary press conference was broadcast live by indybay.org radio

The full text of the UN Population Fund's Press Release follows:

“Ask Not What You Can Do for Us, Ask What We Can Do to Conquer HIV/AIDS”

Audio News Conference featuring Youth Activists from Africa, Europe, and North America

Young people from Africa, Europe and North America will be in New York from 29 May to 2 June to hold a youth summit at UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, to finalize how to hold accountable world leaders gathering at the United Nations High-level Meeting on AIDS. They will tell the world’s political leaders, “Ask Not What You Can Do for Us, Ask What We Can Do to Conquer HIV/AIDS.”

During a 1 June audio news conference call, three youth AIDS activists will speak of their experiences fighting HIV/AIDS in their respective parts of the world and what works and what does not work in helping young people prevent HIV/AIDS. In some parts of the world, 76 per cent of young people (aged 15-24) living with HIV/AIDS are female. One such woman will propose concrete and evidence-based ways to stop the feminization of HIV/AIDS and the spread of the disease. The other speakers will tell how young people are fighting HIV/AIDS, stigma and discrimination, and say what more the world needs to do urgently.

Speakers:

· KENYA: Connie Walyaro, a 26-year-old woman from Kenya. She is the President of Citron Wood, the Regional Focal Point for East Africa for the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS, and was recently appointed as a Member of Track A of the Scientific Committee, International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August 2006. She has been involved in numerous local and global development initiatives.

· U.S.A.: Deidre Young, a 20 year old woman from the United States. She is a member of Advocates for Youth’s International Youth Leadership Council and has organized and presented workshops at the Ryan White AIDS Conference, the One Voice Summit, and Howard University events, where she is a student. She was selected as a 2005 Young People Fellow for People for the American Way.

· U.N.: Steve Kraus, Chief of the HIV/AIDS Branch of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and an authority on the global war against HIV/AIDS.

Sarah Craven , head of the Washington, D.C. office of UNFPA will moderate the call.

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