Historic Youth-led Campaign Set to Drive the 2025 Global Fund Replenishment
Young people stand to benefit the most from a world free of HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. The World Bank projects that the number of young people globally could increase to nearly 1.3 billion by 2030, up from 1.2 billion in 2015. Yet, despite their number, their voices have historically and routinely been excluded from decision-making on their health.
This anomaly inspired the groundbreaking “I Am The Impact” campaign: the first-ever youth-led replenishment initiative in the Global Fund's history.
Launched in June 2025, this movement addresses the urgent need for young people to lead their own future. With over 1,200 youth members across 65 countries, the campaign is quickly gaining momentum by placing young people at the center of advocacy and accountability efforts.
Through dynamic storytelling campaigns, policy dialogues, youth consultations and digital actions, from Nigeria to Nepal, the campaign emphasizes that young people are not just beneficiaries but leaders, innovators and funders of change. Young people involved in the campaign have mobilized regional champions, held consultations with marginalized youth communities, and connected those communities to global advocacy spaces to demand faster progress in the fight against HIV, TB and malaria.
We spoke to six youth leaders involved in this campaign.
Aman Shukla
Founder, YOUNITE Global and “I Am The Impact” Campaign Leader
Age: 25
As a youth leader from India working at the intersection of health, rights and gender justice, my lived experience navigating public health systems drives my commitment to systemic change. I’ve seen how TB, HIV and stigma rob young people of their health and futures, especially those from TB key and vulnerable communities. For us, this isn’t just policy; it’s personal.
I founded YOUNITE Global, a youth-led platform committed to uniting young change-makers in the fight to end TB and other infectious diseases. It was born out of frustration – and hope: frustration at being excluded from decision-making spaces, and hope that we, as young people, could do better. We needed a space by youth, for youth, with youth. I lead our advocacy strategy, support national chapters, and ensure that youth voices – especially from the Global South – are heard loud and clear in global health conversations, including this replenishment campaign.
This replenishment isn’t just about numbers; it’s about lives. Without full funding, we risk reversing years of progress in HIV, TB and malaria. To governments, foundations and the private sector: investing in the Global Fund is investing in stability, equity and the future of our planet. Young people are watching – and we will remember who stood with us.
“I Am The Impact” is not just a campaign; it’s a movement of momentum. We are not the leaders of tomorrow; we are the leaders of today, and we are already driving impact. Support us, fund us, and walk with us. Because we are the impact – and we will not stop until no one is left behind.
Bella Aubree
National Coordinator, Inti Muda Indonesia
Age: 23
I am a transgender woman living with HIV from Indonesia. I serve as the national coordinator of Inti Muda Indonesia, a national network and organization dedicated to young key populations and young people living with HIV. This includes groups like young men who have sex with men, young transgender women, young people who use drugs, and young sex workers.
Leading this organization was not something I ever envisioned. I came from a broken family and was, for a time, homeless. I found shelter with Inti Muda Indonesia, and they provided me with crucial capacity-building as well. It's quite a testament to the idea that investing in and trusting young people is a sound investment.
My deepest motivations for doing this work, and for being a Global Fund Youth Council member, are my anger, grief and tenderness. I feel angry about what happened to me and what so many other young people like me still struggle with. I channel this anger into activism, leading the organization and working on interventions. I don't want any other “Bella” to experience what I did. It’s the closest way for me to effect change. I also feel privileged to be part of the Global Fund Youth Council; it allows me to expand my work beyond the national level, as many issues depend on global donors.
For me, the Global Fund replenishment is about global responsibility. The Global Fund saves lives, including mine. But saving lives isn't enough. We need to go further, eradicating the roots of sickness, poverty, vulnerability and discrimination. It's crucial that investment in youth is meaningful. This means more than just throwing money at youth projects; it requires shifting power and trusting youth leadership. We are not just the future leaders; we are leaders now, and we are already driving impact. If young people lack knowledge or skills, then provide us with the capacity so we can have them. My constant message in every forum is to trust young people, and if there's a lack of trust due to perceived lack of knowledge, then provide that knowledge. Youth leadership needs to be structural, not just symbolic. I hope this campaign ensures that investment is meaningfully targeted at youth.
Amit Singh Gusain
Steering Committee Member, YOUNITE Global and Country Lead, YOUNITE India
Age: 27
I was born with HIV, but I didn’t know my status until I was 13. All my nuclear family members also tested positive for HIV, and we were forced to live in a society that judged us before knowing our story. My first reluctant encounter with a support group, which I was introduced to by my stepmother, led me to volunteer, then become a coordinator, and finally rise to national leadership in programs backed by the Global Fund. Eventually, I became the youngest program coordinator in a Global Fund-supported program across India.
I maintained my treatment regimen through a Care and Support Centre funded by a Global Fund program from which hundreds of families have already benefited. That’s why, for me, the full replenishment of the Global Fund is not just necessary; it’s urgent and non-negotiable. At its core, the Global Fund saves lives like my own and millions of others. It has already helped cut the combined death rates from AIDS, TB and malaria deaths by more than 60%in the countries where it invests. Without full replenishment, we risk reversing decades of hard-won gains, and if we fail to meet the US$18 billion target, we as a united global family will fail to save our future and will be responsible for the deaths and losses that will occur. Keeping the promise of leaving no one behind, government foundations should support the replenishment in helping to save the future. Youth are watching – and we are ready. We, the next generation, are stepping up to lead. But we cannot fill this gap alone. We need bold, committed partners who are ready to put money where the impact is. Funding the Global Fund is funding our future.
Ruby Rose Lawlor
Executive Director, Youth RISE
Age: 27
Throughout my university education and professional life, I've been involved in drug policy reform and harm reduction, particularly in advocacy movement-building. My interest was piqued while studying international development in university, when I realized how little was known about the failures of the current drug control system and its impact on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. I'm now the executive director of Youth RISE, a youth-led organization comprising young people who use drugs and young people who've been disproportionately affected by drug policies.
Our connection with the Global Fund is through our work around building movements of young people who use drugs in communities where they're left behind. We provide expert advice and capacity-building to our members in those countries, enabling them to influence that change for their community members, and provide avenues for their perspectives and needs to have a platform at regional and international decision-making spaces, such as the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
Recent global cuts have severely impacted our work, as we lost 90% of our funding.
If the Global Fund is not fully funded, that will be the last straw for many harm reduction services existing in countries that don’t have sufficient national funding of these programs. It’s important to keep funding these young people to know that their rights matter, that their health matters, and that the national punitive systems are not the deciders on whether they get to have their human rights fulfilled or not.
Faith Ebere
Gender Equality Fund Ambassador (GEF Ambassador) at the Global Network for Young People Living with HIV (Y+ Global)
Age: 25
I nearly died from malaria at 14 and have witnessed friends and family die from malaria, TB and HIV-related complications over the years. These experiences strengthened my resolve to fight these diseases and set me on the path to advocacy work.
In my current role as the Gender Equality Fund Ambassador, I try to ensure that the Gender Equality Fund is actively serving its purpose: fighting HIV, TB and malaria. This means bringing different groups together to work in harmony, always prioritizing women, especially adolescent and young women from diverse groups like LGBTQI+ communities and sex workers, during project implementation. We work to ensure that those living with HIV, malaria and TB take the lead in advocating for their rights.
But it’s no longer business as usual in our advocacy work, as it’s been severely affected by the HIV funding cuts. We need to invest in the Global Fund to protect vulnerable people, particularly women and children, and ensure they live long and healthy lives. I urge governments to take responsibility for their citizens' health by providing their own funding to fill any gaps the Global Fund can't cover. I also advocate for integrating services and issues, encouraging funders to work together rather than duplicate efforts. I believe that “we are the impact”; we are the ones affected by HIV, TB and malaria and the ones who stand to benefit the most if we end these diseases by 2030. To get there, we must fund the Global Fund.
Maryann Wambugu
Chairperson, PACT, and Adolescents and Young People Representative at the Country Coordinating Mechanism for the Global Fund, Kenya
Age: 25
I grew up in Mathare, one of Nairobi’s largest informal settlements, where I witnessed the devastating impact of a broken health system for adolescents and young people. Access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services was a privilege, not a guarantee. Lack of information about HIV and TB meant many of my peers had no chance to protect themselves, and when they got infected, treatment was either unaffordable or simply out of reach. This is not just a health failure; it’s systemic injustice.
I’m driven to keep fighting HIV and TB through my advocacy work so that none of my peers or future generations ever have to go through the same ordeal. It’s about ending inequalities. I also strive to ensure that resources are allocated effectively to prevent costly consequences of inaction.
Over the years, I’ve gained extensive experience in program management, leadership and governance, fueled by a deep commitment to ensuring that adolescents and young people are meaningfully engaged in policymaking at every level. We are not passive recipients of aid; we are experts in our own lives and must be trusted as co-creators of the solutions.
There’s been progress in fighting HIV, TB and malaria in the last few decades, with the Global Fund at the forefront of this victory, having saved 65 million lives. That’s not luck; that’s what happens when global solidarity meets real investment. The full replenishment of the Global Fund is essential to maintain this progress. Health security is vital for economic and political stability, so governments and private sector stakeholders need to prioritize this. It’s not just a moral obligation but a cost-effective strategy to save lives and demonstrate leadership.
The youth are leading the way in building a future free of HIV, TB and malaria through the “I Am The Impact” campaign, which calls for the full replenishment of the Global Fund. But they can't do it alone. They need committed partners – governments, the private sector and the donor community – who are ready to fund this future.
Funding the Global Fund is not just a strategic imperative and global responsibility; it is also a cost-effective strategy to secure a healthy future for all. Their message is clear: Fund the Global Fund and stand with the generation determined to leave no one behind in the fight against HIV, TB and malaria. They will remember who stood with them.