HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Erik Solheim behind Aids summit

The international Young Leaders Summit 2009 on Aids will take place at Losby Manor outside Oslo on 23–25 June 2009.

Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim will host the three-day summit for young leaders on behalf of HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit and the aids2031 project. The summit will gather 30 leaders under 30 years of age from all parts of the world to discuss the fight against HIV/Aids and particularly the challenges related to stigmatisation and discrimination. The main purpose is to ensure young leadership in the future fight against HIV/Aids.

Young people are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection, and it is therefore important that young leaders are engaged in HIV/Aids-related efforts. The participants will represent both grass roots organisations and decision-making bodies. One of the purposes of the conference is to strengthen international youth networks and give a new generation of young leaders a voice.

The last day of the conference will be dedicated to dialogue between the young participants and established politicians, heads of international institutions, and representatives of the media and financial institutions. The aim is to help to build a new generation of young leaders in a new phase of the global fight against HIV/Aids.

The conference is a follow-up of a similar gathering organised by aids2031 in San Francisco last year, at which young leaders, including the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, came together to discuss strategies for the efforts to combat HIV/Aids.

Read more on the aids2031 website.