CNN interviews Crown Princess Mette-Marit on her work for UNAIDS and her special focus on youth leadership. Photo: Courtesy CNNCrown Princess Mette-Marit Attends International AIDS Conference
Last updated: 7/25/2012 //
Norway's Crown Princess, HRH Mette-Marit is currently in Washington, D.C. attending the 19th International AIDS Conference.
In her role as Special Representative for UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS) Her Royal Highness is working to strengthen youth leadership in the fight against AIDS. Her focus is on the prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS and combating the stigmatization that is often experience by people who suffer from the disease. Working with young leaders, she wishes to highlight the importance of youth and local communities in the fight against HIV.
During the course of the conference Her Royal Highness will attend numerous events and meetings. Today she was the keynote speaker at the ceremony of the Red Ribbon Award for Innovative Community Responses to AIDS. There she told the touching story of meeting 8-year-old Manisha, an HIV-positive girl from New Dehli, India. “She was dying from lack of proper medication – today she has medicines thanks to the help of smaller organizations,” Her Royal Highness told the audience.
Did You Know?
More than 30 million people are infected with HIV or have developed AIDS. According to the UN, 95 percent of them live in the developing world.