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STRICTLY EMBARGOED: 2 JULY 2002, 15:00 GMT

Naina Dhingra, 20, Advocates for Youth
Akenji N. Ndumu, 21, Student Global Aids Campaign
Frederic Ngoga Gateretse, 24, Global Justice

Akenji N. Ndumu, 21, Student Global Aids Campaign

"News of another cousin, brother, sister, father or friend having fallen victim to HIV/AIDS arrives almost too often. In Cameroon, my family has lost six close relatives to the epidemic, and the news of countless others floods in. Hence, a lot of my motivation for aiding the effort has stemmed from never forgetting the land where my roots are still grounded and my brothers and sisters who still live there. I saw the opportunity to really make a difference when I joined the Student Global Aids Campaign's College Park chapter last year as an executive member".

Akenji Nduma is a member of the Student Global AIDS Campaign, where he is actively involved in rallying, lobbying, protesting, education and other actions in the battle against HIV/AIDS. Nduma is currently enrolled in the honours programme of the University of Maryland, College Park, where he is entering his senior year as a physical sciences and journalism major. Born in Bamenda, Cameroon, Nduma describes his early years as "fraught with the pressures of the country's continuing economic decline, increasing poverty, corruption, and political unrest." He says his AIDS activism is fuelled with further urgency when he sees the impact it is having on the lives of his relatives in Cameroon.

The Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC), is a United States-based network of students committed to mobilizing a multi-racial student movement in America and worldwide against HIV/AIDS. With members at 250 high schools, colleges, and graduate schools in 43 states, the SGAC has become a major voice in international AIDS advocacy, calling for sufficient resources, effective prevention, and guaranteed access to AIDS treatment and care. SGAC members played leadership roles in Youth Caucus at the UN Special Session on AIDS, the Youth Conference at the UN Conference Against Racism in South Africa, and at the UN's World Youth Forum in Senegal. In April 2001 it initiated a campus letter writing campaign to the United States Congress and President calling for a $2.5 billion commitment to the global AIDS fight. In March, 2002, the SGAC trained more than 50 students in HIV/AIDS policy and met with more than 43 Congressional offices.

Frederic Ngoga Gateretse, 24, Global Justice

"Young people have the unique capacity to reach across false boundaries of nationality, race and economic status to affirm our common humanity and work toward a shared vision. By uniting the creative energy and courage of young people with the knowledge and expertise of academia and professionals, Global Justice empowers youth and students to be informed activists. The Global Justice translates moral outrage and policy analysis into action to change global AIDS policy and protect a generation of young people from infection".

Frederic Gateretse is a board member of Global Justice, an organization that provides technical expertise to youth organizations working on activist campaigns. Currently a graduate student of public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Gateretse has been involved in social activism from his early years in his native Burundi. He was chosen as one of the young people to spearhead a national education campaign to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Burundi, which has an exploding epidemic fuelled by armed conflict, and in the region as a whole. At age 23, he was named president of the Burundi Youth Council, and was also a member of the fund-raising and advocacy campaign for peace in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, which included John Macdonald, a former United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Last September, Gateretse organized a peace summit in Washington DC that brought together 40 young adults from Burundi.

In its efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, Global Justice seeks to combine civic activism, service for social change, and leadership development. Through regional training conferences across the country, weekly national conference calls, and constant e-mails, members stay in touch to coordinate strategy on everything from internal education to media outreach. The campaign successfully organized three regional conferences in Boston, Philadelphia, and Bloomington, Indiana in which over 150 student leaders were trained in interactive workshops.

Naina Dhingra, 20, Advocates for Youth

" Young people have power and are turning the tide of the AIDS pandemic. While young people are the most vulnerable, they have enormous drive and enthusiasm to combat this disease. If empowered with the right tools and information and given a genuine opportunity to lead the fight, we can stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Advocates for Youth works with young people to drive the agenda, create opportunities to get involved, act and make a difference".

Naina Dhingra is the coordinator of the International Youth Leadership Council of Advocates for Youth, an organization dedicated to creating programs and advocating for policies that help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. An experienced public speaker and presenter on HIV/AIDS, Dhingra was a youth delegate to the May 2000 preparatory meeting for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, where she was the only young person to speak in front of the General Assembly. She has also spoken and presented at the Connecticut State AIDS Educators Network (CAEN) conference, the National American Red Cross Convention, and the Regional Youth/Adult Substance Abuse Project (RYASAP) conference on HIV/AIDS.

Dhingra is an instructor/trainer on HIV/AIDS, certified by the American Red Cross and the Teen AIDS Prevention (TAP) program and is currently working on coordination youth activities for the Barcelona Youth Force at the 12th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona. Dhingra is a senior international affairs major at George Washington University. Her family is from Mumbai, India and Kuwait, and currently live in Fairfield, CT.

For further information, contact:

Alfred Ironside, UNICEF Media, New York, ++ 212) 326-7261

Liza Barrie, UNICEF, Media Chief, (212) 326-7593,

Itai Madabombe, UNICEF Media, New York (212) 326-7412