Biography

Ibanomonde Ngema is a 22-year-old HIV activist and a powerful voice for young people living with and affected by HIV. She delivered the closing address at the International AIDS Society (IAS) conference. Ibanomonde is South Africa’s Her Voice Fund Ambassador, championing the health and rights of adolescent girls and young women. She is a driving force with the Advocates for Prevention of HIV in Africa (APHA), strengthening community-led HIV prevention, and serves as a Paediatric-Adolescent Treatment for Africa (PATA) Youth Advisory Panelist, advising on youth-centred approaches to treatment and care across the continent. In addition, she is UNFPA’s Regional Youth Advocate for the East and Southern Africa region, amplifying young people’s voices in sexual and reproductive health and rights, and a published author in The Lancet, contributing to important research on adolescent health