Jerop Limo: “Advocacy is often thankless, so this recognition tells me I’m on the right path.”The Goalkeepers Awards, founded
by the Gates Foundation, celebrate global changemakers advancing the
Sustainable Development Goals. Past honorees include Brazil’s
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian philanthropist Ratan
Tata, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and former U.S.
President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
This year, Kenya’s Jerop Limo
joined their ranks as a Goalkeepers Champion in New York. At just 27,
she leads the Ambassador for Youth and Adolescent Reproductive Health
Programme (AYARHEP), which supports adolescents and young people
living with HIV.
She spoke to The Star about her journey, the
challenges young people face, and what this award means for her
movement.
What does this award mean to you
and your organisation?
Honestly, I still wonder how I
got here. But it reminds me that the work I do is seen and valued.
Advocacy is often thankless, so this recognition tells me I’m on
the right path.
For the organisation, it means
visibility and growth. It opens doors for us to push harder,
especially now that funding and resources are shifting. It also gives
us a platform to highlight issues like the low uptake of PrEP among
young people.
So tell us about yourself and
the organisation you lead
My name is Jerop Limo. I lead
the Ambassador for Youth and Adolescent Reproductive Health Programme
(AYARHEP). Our organisation addresses the needs of adolescents and
young people living with HIV—not just biomedical needs, but also
mentorship, information, and support.
We focus on advocacy,
information sharing, awareness creation, community engagement, and,
most importantly, youth leadership. We want young people to lead the
HIV response, to advocate for their rights, and to push for policies
that address their realities.
How old are you, and
what drives your passion at Ayarhep?
I am 27 years old. I am also a
young person living with HIV. I’ve experienced the struggles of
daily medication, illness, and stigma. My work is driven by my own
lived experience. I want to ensure others like me get the support
they need.
What key challenges do young
people living with HIV face in Kenya?
The challenges are diverse, but
access to services remains a huge issue. Often, we only address
health needs and overlook social and structural barriers that affect treatment adherence.
Some young people live far from
health facilities. Others face stigma and discrimination. Many also
deal with economic hardships that directly impact how they take their
medication.
The age 15 to 24 has the highest
number of new infections of any age group. What needs to be done?
As a country, we bury our heads
in the sand. We assume young people are not sexually active, but they
are. Many have unprotected sex without access to correct information
or support.
Sexuality remains a taboo
subject, so young people don’t know where to go when they need
help. We must provide accurate information and create programmes that
empower them to make informed decisions.
Policy barriers are another
challenge. For example, the age of access to reproductive health
services is still set at 15. A teenager cannot confidently walk into
a health centre and ask for condoms, PrEP, PEP, or ARVs. These
policies limit access and increase risk.
But why is PrEP uptake low among
young people?
Many don’t understand what
PrEP is, or where to access it. Taking a pill every day is also a
burden, and some fear being judged at health facilities. Young people
are often told they have no business being sexually active.
But new options bring hope. For
instance, Lenacapavir, a yearly injection, could change everything
once it becomes available in Kenya. With one shot every six months,
there’s no pill burden, no bottles to hide, and more privacy.