FOUNDING PATRONS’ FOREWORD A year ago, we announced our plans to expand Sentebale’s flagship psychosocial support programme beyond Lesotho, to Botswana; which has the world’s third highest prevalence of HIV. Since then, a new team in Botswana have joined the Sentebale family and worked alongside local partners and the Ministry of Health and Wellness to provide nearly 400 children and young people with monthly support for their mental health and wellbeing, through Saturday Clubs and Residential Camps. Sentebale’s presence has also grown significantly across Lesotho over the past 12 months; our programme for 10 to 19 year olds living with HIV reached a cohort of over 3,400 young people every month, and we celebrated the landmark achievement of delivering half a million hours of psychosocial support. This mile-stone is a testimony to both the hard work of the Sentebale team, and commitment of our supporters all over the world. Despite this progress, research shows us that HIV remains a leading cause of death for young people in Africa. Young people are not accessing treatment
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as effectively as other groups, due to a general lack of understanding and the stigma which still surrounds the disease. For those who are accessing care, their needs are often overlooked, with many young people finding services which are insufficient or unsuited to meet their specific needs. In light of this, Sentebale launched the Let Youth Lead programme in April 2017, with youth empowerment, engagement, and inter-generational dialogue at its core. Our vision is for all young people in southern Africa to know and manage their HIV status by 2020.
“Over the past 12 months, our programme for 10 to 19 year olds living with HIV reached a cohort of over 3,400 youth every month.” PRINCE HARRY, SENTEBALE CO-FOUNDING PATRON
We have both been proud to play our part in this programme; whether that is launching Let Youth Lead at a summit in the ’Mamohato Children’s Centre, or joining young advocates to speak at a roundtable hosted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and attended by global health leaders including PEPFAR, UNAIDS and The Global Fund. It is platforms such as these that ensure young people are at the heart of shaping and strengthening future HIV policies to provide better support for their generation. The breadth of what Sentebale has achieved this year is reflected in the difficult task of selecting just a handful of highlights for this letter. But as in previous years, none of these achievements would be possible without the hard work of our dedicated team, or the continued support of all our donors and partners. Thank you.
HRH PRINCE HENRY OF WALES
HRH PRINCE SEEISO BERENG SEEISO
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