Itumeleng Komanyane is an accomplished development practitioner with many years of her life devoted to social and gender justice work. The range of issues she has worked on includes gender equality and women’s empowerment, gender-based violence, HIV and AIDS, sexual reproductive health and rights, youth development and leadership, and engaging men and boys. She brings a wealth of experience in integrated programme management, governance and accountability, movement building, advocacy, and building organisational capacity to undertake social justice work. In the global HIV and AIDS field, she was involved in Botswana’s HIV prevention efforts in the late 1990s through her work as a Peer Educator and board member. In 2001, she was elected as Botswana’s focal point for Youth Against AIDS (YAA). This role was followed by other important engagements in Botswana including as the secretary of the Youth Advisory Committee for the African Youth Alliance, and as chairperson of the Botswana Community Advisory Group on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis drug trials. In her professional capacity, Itumeleng has served as the Deputy Chair of the ESARO Civil Society Advisory Group to UN Women and is currently a member of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to end GBV Global Reference Group.
