Young people driving community-based HIV care
Frontline AIDS' flagship youth programme shows how young people can be the driving force to help their peers thrive.
In Mozambique, Domingas was diagnosed with HIV at 18. The peer support she received through that experience inspired her to become one herself and help other young people.
It’s very satisfying to help other young people to see that, with my support, they can have a normal life.Domingas, Peer Supporter, Zimbabwe
She was trained through READY+ by REPSSI and now counsels young people newly diagnosed with HIV, makes home visits, runs support groups, and draws on her own experience to help those who struggle to accept their status or stay in treatment. “It’s very satisfying to help other young people to see that, with my support, they can have a normal life,” she says.
What began in 2016 as a programme in four countries has evolved into a movement, tested, refined, and proven to deliver impact at scale.
Implemented across six countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, READY+ embeds peer supporters in health services, ensuring that young people can access lifesaving HIV, mental health and sexual and reproductive health and rights information and services, and equipping them to advocate for their needs.
Over a decade, this investment has reached over 60,000 adolescents and young people who are living with or affected by HIV with sustained peer support.
In 2025, the programme continued to deliver.:
- In Zimbabwe, 10,422 young people living with HIV received the full READY+ package across 65 health facilities, delivered by 124 peer supporters, all of whom remained within the programme throughout the year.
- In Malawi, the Ministry of Health committed MWK47 million ($27,000 USD) to scale READY+ teen clubs and formally designated READY partner Y+ Global as the national coordinating organisation for adolescent safe spaces.
- The READY to Care Scorecard: a community-led tool assessing service quality and youth-friendliness has now been adopted across six African countries by programmes beyond this partnership, a marker of systemic change.
- Over 1,065 youth leaders were trained and mentored to engage at national, regional and global policy platforms — from the World Health Summit in Berlin to ICASA in Accra.
READY+ is part of a portfolio of programmes designed to build Resilient and Empowered Adolescents and Young people (READY).