Credit: UNAIDS
UNAIDS welcomes four Youth Fellows who arrived this month in Geneva for the second round of the UNAIDS Special Youth Programme.
Remmy Malawa Shawa, Esther Ekechukwu, Rumbidzayi Masiyiwa and Tim Scully were among almost 1800 candidates who applied for this year’s programme. They will be with UNAIDS Geneva for 5 months and after their induction and an initial research assignment they will each be assigned to a specific team within the UNAIDS Secretariat. Subsequently they will continue their fellowship in the UNAIDS office of their country or region of origin for a further four months.
The objectives of the programme are:
- To create opportunities at appropriate levels of the organization to engage youth in policy development and programming;
- To help build the capacity of young people and strengthen their leadership skills to contribute to the AIDS response, especially at the country level;
- To sensitize both the young people and UNAIDS staff on various modalities of working together to address issues related to HIV, particularly youth concerns, gender, GIPA and human rights.
Tim is from Malaysia and has experience as a Youth Outreach Manager, coordinating events and meetings for the MSM programmes at the Pink Triangle Foundation in Malaysia. He will be working with the Civil Society and Partnerships team.
Esther comes from Nigeria and has a Masters in Public Health from the University of Ibadan. She is a core volunteer for the Global Youth’s Action project for ActionAid in Nigeria and will be working with the Advocacy Team.
Rumbidzayi is from Zimbabwe and holds a BA in Social Science and Psychology. She has worked in Harare with the Community Working Group on Health as an intern within their Youth and Reproductive Health Programme. Rumbidzayi will be working with the Prevention Team.
Remmy is from Zambia and has just completed his studies at the University of Zambia, conducting academic research in Gender and Health. He has worked as a focal point in his home country for the Global Youth Coalition on AIDS (GYCA) and will be working with the Gender Team.
