Accra, Ghana, 3 - 8 December 2025 - The 23rd International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA 2025) convened thousands of participants from governments, academia, civil society, community networks, and youth movements across Africa and beyond. Under the theme “Africa in Action: Catalysing Integrated Sustainable Responses to End AIDS, TB, and Malaria,” the conference underscored a critical reality: Africa’s progress towards ending AIDS depends on resilient health systems, protected human rights, and leadership from communities and young people.
This message carried particular urgency amid shifting global health financing and increasing pressure on domestic resource mobilisation. Across plenaries, satellite sessions, side events, and community spaces, ICASA 2025 reinforced a shared understanding that integrated, community-centred, and rights-based approaches are not optional. They are the foundation of an effective and sustainable HIV response.
Youth leadership takes centre stage
From the opening moments of the conference, youth and community leadership were firmly positioned at the centre of the agenda. Speaking on behalf of communities living with and affected by HIV, Priscilla Ama Addo, Junior Programmes Officer for the READY+ programme at Y+ Global, delivered a compelling intervention during the official opening ceremony, setting a decisive tone for the week.
She highlighted the emergence of powerful tools reshaping HIV prevention, testing, and treatment, including long-acting prevention options, next-generation treatments such as Lenacapavir, point-of-care diagnostics for advanced HIV disease, and digital health solutions that protect privacy and continuity of care for young people. At the same time, she made clear that innovation alone is not enough.
[Priscilla Ama Addo delivering the opening remarks on behalf of communities at ICASA 2025]
Priscilla challenged governments, donors, and partners to confront the barriers that continue to limit access, stressing that these tools will only drive impact if they are affordable, widely available, and developed with communities, not for them. She called for accelerated regulatory pathways, fair pricing, and deliberate efforts to ensure new technologies reach rural communities, key populations, and young people most affected by HIV.
“Africa stands at a turning point. Our past shows what is possible. Our present warns us of what is at risk. Our future depends on the decisions we make in this room. If we choose courage, we will continue the path toward ending AIDS as a public health threat. If we choose hesitation, the gains of the last twenty years will fade.”Priscilla Ama Addo
Junior Programmes Officer: READY+, Y+ Global
[Participants at the ICASA Youth-Pre Conference, UNITED! Movement Session]
That leadership continued into youth spaces across ICASA 2025. At the Youth Pre-Conference, the UNITED! Movement led a session titled “Reimagining Youth-Led Programming 3.0: Strengthening Capacities for Impactful HIV and SRHR Outcomes.” In its third iteration, the session reflected an ongoing commitment to creating interactive learning spaces where young people can critically engage with the movement, partners, programmers, and stakeholders, build practical skills, and collectively unpack the real challenges they face and find solutions informed by lived experiences. The session moved beyond theory, using interactive role play to address real challenges to meaningful youth engagement, including resistance to youth decision-making, digital exclusion, and the marginalisation of young people most affected by HIV.
Participants engaged deeply with the scenarios presented and committed to strengthening youth-led programming that is inclusive, accountable, and grounded in lived realities.
“Strengthening youth leadership is not a one-off activity; it is a long-term investment in sustainable HIV and SRHR outcomes across generations,”Faith Thipe
Programme Officer: UNITED! Movement, Y+ Global
A visible, confident youth presence
Throughout the week, Y+ Global maintained a strong and intentional presence, building on momentum from ICASA 2023 and positioning young people as central actors in Africa’s health transformation. Young advocates supported by Y+ Global did not attend as observers; they showed up as leaders, partners, and decision-shapers.
Young people from initiatives including the READY Movement led sessions, presented abstracts, engaged policymakers, and shared evidence rooted in lived experience. Their leadership extended beyond formal conference rooms, including participation in the Stop AIDS Death March, led by the Fight AIDS Coalition, which called for urgent action to end AIDS and increased investments in HIV prevention, treatment and care.
[Young delegates present their banners at the Stop AIDS Death March at ICASA 2025]
“Y+ Global was built on the belief that young people deserve space, trust, and opportunity to lead. At ICASA 2025, we saw that come to life. Young people, they led, advocated, and engaged as equal partners across HIV and SRHR dialogues.”Modester Mangilani
Senior Programmes Officer at Y+ Global
A key focal point for engagement was the Unitaid-supported exhibition booth, which provided a dedicated platform for community-led organisations to showcase impact and innovation. The space was used to highlight youth-led work across flagship initiatives, including the UNITED Movement, READY Movement, HER Voice Fund, Gender Equality Fund, and You(th) Care.
Beyond showcasing impact, the booth served as an active listening space, where delegates shared reflections, priorities, and practical suggestions that will directly inform Y+ Global’s new organisational strategy, currently under development and scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2026.
[From left to right: Visitors joined the Y+ Global x Untaid booth takeover in the community village]
During the conference, Y+ Global also reached a key milestone by achieving accreditation to the Frontline AIDS Partnership, further strengthening its partnership and role within the global community-led HIV response.
As ICASA 2025 concluded, discussions converged on urgent priorities, sustainable financing amid declining global development funds, equitable access to innovation, and the need to address punitive laws, stigma, and discrimination that continue to limit service uptake. Youth leaders consistently reinforced that meaningful engagement is not symbolic; it is essential to accountability, impact, and long-term success.
ICASA 2025 closed with renewed determination to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Governments, donors, civil society, and communities reaffirmed their commitment to work collectively to strengthen health systems, address inequities, and scale youth-led solutions. But where there is a will, is there a way, and the question we must ask ourselves is whether the world will keep up?
The message from Accra was clear: Africa’s health future depends on centring lived experience, investing in community systems, and creating enabling environments where young people and key populations are trusted to lead. Progress is possible, but only if the world keeps pace with the leadership already being shown by communities and young people across the continent.