February 12, 2016
AVAC is delighted to announce the 2016 AVAC Advocacy Fellows—the seventh class of Fellows! Please join us in congratulating these six talented advocates. With this new class, the AVAC Fellows family has grown to 50! We hope you’ll find ways to collaborate with the new Fellows in 2016 and beyond.
The 2016 Advocacy Fellows were selected from a pool of nearly 100 applicants from over 20 countries across the globe. We thank all of the applicants and their proposed host organizations for the time and effort put into this process, and we’re also grateful to the independent review committee of advocates, scientists and former Fellows and Hosts who guided decision-making.
The 2016 Advocacy Fellows are:
- Kingsley Chasanga at Malawi Network of AIDS Service Organisations, Malawi
- Amaka Enemo at the Heartland Alliance, Nigeria
- Chilufya Hampongo at the Treatment Advocacy & Literacy Campaign, Zambia
- Ntombozuko Kraai at the Wellness Foundation, South Africa
- Lepheana Mosooane at Jhpiego, Lesotho
- Godfrey Okumu at Impact Research and Development Organization, Kenya
Last year brought important HIV prevention developments on a number of fronts that 2015 Fellows and alumni engaged with, in a variety of capacities. Now, 2016ers take the baton, working in a world where WHO recommends the offer of treatment for everyone living with HIV and the option of daily oral PrEP for those at substantial risk; where VMMC rollout has accelerated but flat funding looms large; where the microbicide field is readying itself for results from the two dapivirine vaginal ring trials; and the vaccine field is on track to initiate two large efficacy trials. The 2016 Fellows have bold ideas to address many of these opportunities and challenges in their Fellowship year, which begins on April 1.
The 2016 Fellows join a fantastic group of 44 Advocacy Fellow Alumni from eight sub-Saharan African countries and China who have participated in the program since its inception. Please visit the Advocacy Fellows page and follow the P-Values blog to learn more about the new Fellows’ planned work for the year and to learn about the Alumni Fellows’ ongoing work.
A Call for Applications for the 2017 Fellows Program will be announced this June with an application deadline in August. If you would like to be notified of the 2017 Call for Applications or have any questions, please email us at fellows@avac.org.