Africa’s youth on the edge of the chasm

Since his appointment in January 2001 as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Ambassador Stephen Lewis has earned a reputation as a fierce, plainspoken advocate for greater action against the HIV/AIDS pandemic sweeping the continent. He was an early — and often lonely — voice for a much stronger focus on the special challenges to and contributions from African women in the struggle against the disease.