The Vibrant Young Voices Consortium calls for meaningful youth participation in decision-making
The Vibrant Young Voices (VYV) Consortium is a dynamic and strategic partnership, led by Y+ Global and accompanied by esteemed organizations including the Coalition of Children Affected by AIDS (CCABA) and PATA, funded by the Robert Carr Fund. This consortium is driven by a shared vision of empowering excluded adolescents and young people, ensuring their voices are heard in policy-making, funding decisions, and program development at all levels.
At the heart of the consortium’s work are children, adolescents, and young people living with HIV (YPLHIV). VYV’s programs focus on building networks, enhancing advocacy skills, and improving service delivery for people aged 14 to 30, with a clear focus on inclusion and learning. The consortium understands the experience of living with HIV changes as people move from adolescence into adulthood and so must the systems that support them.
The VYV Youth Advisory Group ensures that the consortium’s work is not just for young people, but led with them. The group advises on ethical youth inclusion, contributes to research and mentorship, and guides staff on how to meaningfully engage young people in decision-making. Their work demonstrates what genuine participation looks like when the voices of young people are respected, informed, and central to shaping outcomes.
When young people living with HIV are meaningfully engaged, not just consulted, they become essential partners in building health systems that are more equitable, responsive, and effective. This is the kind of leadership that moves us closer to ending epidemics for good. Gabriela Romero, Senior Programmes Officer, Y+ Global
The consortium’s campaign, Engage Us. Our Health. Our Rights., calls on governments, UN agencies, and donors to move beyond box-ticking engagement. It is a charge to see young people not as boxes to be checked or targets to be met, but as individuals with dreams, insights, and the right to shape the systems that impact their health and futures.
While young people have long been acknowledged as key partners in the HIV response, their participation too often ends at the consultation level. The campaign reaffirms the powerful message of youth advocates everywhere: nothing about us, without us.
By putting this principle into practice, the Vibrant Young Voices Consortium shows that when young people are genuinely engaged, everyone benefits, health services become stronger, policies become more responsive, and tailored to the specific needs of the youths.
When young people are meaningfully engaged, they become powerful advocates not just for themselves but for the health of their peers and communities. They gain the confidence and skills required to navigate systems of power, from healthcare providers to policymakers, and to hold those systems accountable.
Across countries, young people living with HIV are helping to shape how services are delivered, monitor clinic performance, and create feedback loops that make health systems more responsive. Their leadership is transforming the HIV response from the ground up.
The ripple effects are evident, stronger advocacy for sexual and reproductive health and rights, better-informed adolescents, and greater access to care that truly meets young people’s needs.
The Vibrant Young Voices Consortium empowers adolescents and young people living with HIV to lead and not just participate in shaping the policies, programmes, and funding decisions that affect their lives.
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