1. The Mali Youth Summit on HIV
Bamako, Mali (15-17 April 2011)
I remain convinced that today’s young people will assume the mantle for the next decade. Young people can bring new
energy to the AIDS movement and deliver on social justice and equity.
Michel Sidibé,
Executive Director of UNAIDS
OVERVIEW
As the international community marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were identified, the moment
has come to unleash the full power and potential of young people to advance the global AIDS response.
The Mali Youth Summit (15-17 April 2011) will unite 100 young leaders from all over the world in a three-
day meeting exploring opportunities to elevate and empower a “New Generation of Leadership” in the
global AIDS response. The Summit is organized by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS), under the patronage of President Amadou Toumani Touré, and will take place in Bamako, Mali.
Participants will build on the success of President Obama’s landmark Forum with Young African Leaders
(August 2010) and generate momentum for youth representation at the High Level Meeting on AIDS at the
UN General Assembly in New York (8-10 June). The Summit will also serve as a transglobal handshake to
link and strengthen existing youth networks across different regions and deepen their connections with the
AIDS community. At this historic gathering, young people and youth organizations will mobilize and com-
mit to hold national leaders accountable for their commitments at the High Level Meeting,and its aftermath,
taking the lead in the AIDS response.
Background on Young People and HIV
In 2009, people aged 15-24 accounted for 41% of new HIV infections among adults. Today’s generation of
young people are at risk and vulnerable to HIV. Sexual coercion, gender-based violence, age-disparate and
transactional sex, inadequate law enforcement and social protection mechanisms and financial insecurity
confront young people with difficult choices. Young women are particularly vulnerable to HIV, accounting
for 64% of infections among young people worldwide.
Young people and sexual risk
People aged 15 –25 years who had sex before age 15 years and who had multiple partners in the past 12
months.
Source: DHS and UN Population Statistics.
% 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0
1999– 2003
Sex before 15
2004 –2009
1999–2003
Multiple partners in last
12 months
2004 – 2009
Males Females
At the same time, the latest data show clearly that young people are leading the prevention revolution by
adopting safer sexual practices. Their rate of new HIV infections has fallen by more than 25%, in 15 of the
most severely affected countries. Still, young people face challenges in accessing youth-friendly sexual and
reproductive health services relating to HIV

2. While we are seeing a growing mobilization in greater numbers among youth organizations and networks focus-
ing on HIV, young people still face difficulties in accessing and influencing decision makers, and in becoming
engaged as equal partners in the AIDS response.
SUMMIT OBJECTIVES:
Empower young people to lead the HIV prevention revolution.
Strengthen and forge networks between young people and youth-led organizations across the globe to
strengthen and unite the youth and AIDS movements.
Strengthen the advocacy skills of young people by developing a concrete advocacy action plan for and by
young people in the lead-up to the High Level Meeting.
Develop a Call for Action from young people at the Summit that can be used to empower young people and
hold policymakers accountable for future progress on AIDS.
PRINCIPALS
H.E. Amadou Toumani Touré, Michel Sidibé, James Chau,
President of Mali Executive Director of UNAIDS, National UNAIDS Goodwill
(patron) Under Secretary General of the Ambassador for China
United Nations (host) (Moderator)
SUMMIT PARTICIPANTS
The Summit will engage 100 dynamic young participants from all over the world, including young people living with
HIV and attendees of the 2010 White House Forum with Young African Leaders and the 2009 Youth Summit in Oslo.
In this three-day working meeting, participants will create a manifesto for youth empowerment—an action plan
to create sustainable, youth-driven change in the AIDS movement at community and global levels.
SUMMIT STEERING COMMITTEE:
A steering committee of 12 young people, representing a broad range of youth networks and regions, has been
established to drive the planning and implementation of the Mali Youth Summit, supported by UNAIDS and its
Cosponsors together with the Government of Mali and other partners.
EXPECTED SUMMIT OUTCOMES
Young people empowered and mobilized to hold leaders and policymakers accountable in the lead-up to the
High Level Meeting in New York, including the HLM outcome document and its consequences.
Networks forged and strengthened between young people and youth-led organizations across the globe to
unite the youth and AIDS movements
The Call for Action launched online, with a broad advocacy action plan developed to leverage the voices of
young people in the lead-up to the High Level Meeting .