Chukwumuanya Igboekwu

HIV / AIDS Campaigning & Awareness Raising - Nigeria (West Africa)

Chukwumuanya is an indigenous male from Nigeria, who works with the Young Corps for Social Responsibilty (YCSR). His project ‘Youth for Life’ was a youth-led initiative aimed at reducing the burden of HIV/AIDS in Niger States, Nigeria. This was achieved through raising community awareness about HIV/AIDS, teaching prevention activities and ensuring treatment, care and supports for people (especially youth) living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAS). 

As a medical doctor volunteering in the rural community, he has also been involved in establishing an HIV/AIDS treatment centre within the community where he’s working. Chukwumuanya is also strategically campaigning and lobbying the Niger State Government, with the aim of increasing the budgetary allocation to health and HIV/AIDS programming activities, especially with regards to the procurement of essential medicines and technologies for people living with HIV/AIDS in his community. Less than 5% of those requiring ARV’s and other medicines actually have access to them.

To address the problem of HIV/AIDS to community stakeholders, a dialogue conference was held at the 29 of January, 2005 at Safara Hotel Kontagora Niger State, (North Central region), Nigeria. The conference was strongly supported by Oxfam with a grant. Chukwumuanya stated that  “The dialogue brought together community stakeholders and provided them with the unique opportunity to discuss and brainstorm on how best to tackle the HIV/AIDS pandemic ravaging our region, more so especially as it affects young people residing in the rural communities in the region. About 186 community stakeholders participated actively in the dialogue. (...) The dialogue also provided the launching pad for an intensive analytical process involving community and religious leaders which will culminate in the evolving of strategies that are culturally sensitive and adaptable to the socio-cultural peculiarities in the region for the effective tackling the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It also played a catalytic role in stimulating and expanding our thinking in the exploration of new approaches aimed at moving our mission forward.”

The conference was the first of its kind in Nigeria due to the general lack of a public awareness for HIV/AIDS until this point. Chukwumuanya urges “all stakeholders, governments, development agencies, corporate bodies and all people of goodwill to join us in bringing resources to this most critical mission.”