Haben Fecadu

Advocates for Youth

Haben Fecadu is currently the International Program Co-Coordinator overseeing Advocates for Youth’s International Youth Leadership Council, a group of youth leaders working to change policy through media work, lobbying, campus-based activities, and participation in international conferences. In her capacity as the co-coordinator of the IYLC, Haben shares oversight responsibilities with the other coordinator, which include recruiting new members, training members, chairing meetings, helping coordinate speaking engagements for members, and collecting and disseminating updates to members, among other things. Haben has most recently supervised the IYLC’s attendance at the Women Deliver Conference and is serving as a co-chair for the 2008 International AIDS Conference Mexico City YouthForce sub-committee on the Youth Pavilion. In April of this year, Haben and an IYLC member will be attending an international conference on youth reproductive and sexual health in Nigeria and conducting a skills-building workshop on youth advocacy. Haben is also currently a senior at Georgetown University and is majoring in international political economy and African studies. Haben is a founding member of Georgetown’s Live Now Campaign Chapter and she served as President of Students Against Global AIDS in high school.

Where Are All the Young Black People at IAC?

African and African-American youth are almost nowhere to be found at the IAC. This lack of representation was extremely surprising considering that sub-Saharan Africa is widely recognized as the most HIV affected and infected region in the world.