Meheret Melles is a 20 year old Ethiopian-American student at the University of Maryland. She is on the International Youth Leadership Council at Advocates for Youth and a member of the Student Global AIDS Campaign.

To ask where youth may be at a youth reception sounds a bit silly, but the answer to my question was right upstairs. Of course there was a variety of sexy shirts that say money, access, and listen with messages on the back, reading the following: ½ of all new HIV infections are among young people under 25. We need youth-friendly services, including prevention, treatment, voluntary counseling and testing, and access to harm reduction programs. There was even a table for The Condom Project, where youth could make pins out of condoms and decorative fabric.

However, when I heard that famous youth icons like Alicia Keys were speaking, I walked downstairs to discover that only "VIP" guests could attend. Little did I know that very few of these "VIP" guests were youth. So what did I do?

Meheret Melles is a 20 year old Ethiopian-American student at the University of Maryland. She is on the International Youth Leadership Council at Advocates for Youth and a member of the Student Global AIDS Campaign.

Attention! Attention! The International AIDS Conference of 2006 has finally begun! With warning from my fellow colleagues that endured three hours of waiting to register for the Conference, I decided to wake up early to make the registration process as brief as possible. With only 20 minutes spent for registration, I enjoyed the rest of the day exploring the Youth Pavillion, which included lounges for chill-out sessions and booths for organizations to offer information on youth-led international HIV prevention work.

The highlight of the day was surely the Opening Session of the Main Conference. Political leaders like the President of Liberia, Mrs. Ellen Johnson, the UNAIDS Director of HIV/AIDS, Peter Piot, and a globally-known couple with a fair amount of money--Bill and Melinda Gates. Even with all these "famous" speakers, the highlight of my day was the spontaneous demonstration organized by a US-based coalition of advocacy organizations, including my personal favorite the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC), to fully fund the Fund for Health Care Workers (HCW) in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Meheret Melles is a 20 year old Ethiopian-American student at the University of Maryland. She is on the International Youth Leadership Council at Advocates for Youth and a member of the Student Global AIDS Campaign.

After a day full of chasing dreams, youth gathered together for a night of theatre, live music, and art. As a volunteer, I had the pleasure to set up Chasing the Dream, an art exhibit of stunning photos, taken by youth in developing countries. These talented youth photographers were trained and released to venture around their community to capture the true essence of fear and excitement that their people candidly expressed. The rest of the night allowed Pre-Conference participants to mingle and enjoy the catered gourmet hors d'oeuvres.

Meheret Melles is a 20 year old Ethiopian-American student at the University of Maryland. She is on the International Youth Leadership Council at Advocates for Youth and a member of the Student Global AIDS Campaign.

When 250 youth from around the world meet to continue the fight against HIV/AIDS, how can you not be excited?

The first day of the Toronto YouthForce Pre-Conference couldn't have started with a more invigorating opening session. Grandma Heather Sole, an elder, and Brenda McIntyre, a Medicine Song Woman, blessed us with their presence in a self-healing ceremony. From then on, the aura of the Pre-Conference was filled with the positive energy and strong desire of youth to utilize their minds in order to strategically strengthen their presence at the Main Conference. The sessions covered a multitude of issues, from Trade Justice to Media & Communications. I even overheard some youth participants bewildered because they simply wanted to attend all the sessions!