As the 2023 International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) draws near, Zimbabwe's remarkable progress against HIV is in the spotlight. Preceding the conference is World AIDS Day, observed annually on December 1st, to show support for people living with HIV and to remember those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses

Zimbabwe is one of five African countries that have achieved the ambitious "95-95-95" targets set by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Alongside Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, and the United Republic of Tanzania, the country now ensures that 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95% of those who know their status are on antiretroviral treatment, and 95% of those on treatment have suppressed viral loads—three key conditions for saving lives and stopping transmission.

But progress against HIV is uneven. Adolescent girls and young women remain disproportionately affected by the epidemic. Every week, 4000 adolescent girls and young women became infected with HIV globally in 2022. Over 3100 of these infections occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, where adolescent girls and young women (aged 15-24 years) were more than three times as likely to acquire HIV than their male peers.

Yet Zimbabwe is seeing progress. New HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women in Zimbabwe have declined remarkably, with a 29% drop from 2019 to 2022. This encouraging trend is narrowing the gender disparity in new infections, with the incidence among adolescent girls now six times that of their male counterparts, compared to eight times in 2020.

Various factors, including social isolation, poverty, harmful cultural practices, orphanhood, gender-based violence, and limited education, contribute to the vulnerability of adolescent girls and young women to HIV and hinder them from realizing their full potential.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the structural factors fuelling new HIV infections in Zimbabwe, particularly among adolescent girls and young women. School dropouts surged, teenage pregnancies escalated, child marriages became more prevalent, and gender-based violence intensified.

Each year in Zimbabwe, 12,000 girls have an opportunity to pursue their education and break the cycle of poverty and vulnerability to HIV, thanks to vital education subsidies. This approach, known as DREAMS modified, is led by the National AIDS Council (NAC) in collaboration with Plan International, with support from UNDP and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

In the spirit of the 2023 World AIDS Day theme, "Let Communities Lead," and ahead of the convening of the 22nd edition of ICASA in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 4-9 December 2023, the NAC, Plan International and UNDP are highlighting the voices of adolescent girls and young women from four districts especially affected by HIV: Chimanimani, Umguza, Kwekwe, and Umzingwane.