Yana is the Founder of Teenergizer, a youth movement providing trauma support for youth affected by the conflict in Ukraine and eradicating discrimination for people living with HIV.
Teenergizer began in 2015, based on Yana’s own experience of being born with and living with HIV. This inspired her to support other adolescents and young people living with HIV, while also educating teenagers on sexual and reproductive health. Since the conflict in Ukraine began in 2022, Teenergizer has evolved into a point of resilience for mental health and trauma support for youth affected by the war. What makes the organisation unique is its peer-to-peer counselling model, which empowers young people to design and lead interventions to help their peers.
Through this work, Teenergizer has had a tangible and lasting impact, reaching over 156,230 young people with peer-to-peer psychological counselling. The organisation’s volunteer programmes have trained young people to provide support, delivering more than 796 training sessions to over 25,340 teenagers. In addition, 269 teenagers living with HIV receive regular support in self-help groups run by Teenergizer teams.
Yana attended the 2021 Summit in Munich. Her participation strengthened her leadership and reinforced Teenergizer’s international positioning. The Summit provided a platform to expand partnerships, amplify the voices of young people living with HIV, and promote inclusive approaches to health and mental health, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine. Yana also represented the experiences of Ukrainian youth living in conflict and humanitarian crises on international stages. Participation in the Summit opened new opportunities for collaboration, advocacy, and scaling Teenergizer’s impact globally.
“The Summit platform helped expand Teenergizers partnerships, amplify the voices of young people living with HIV, and promote inclusive approaches in health and mental health, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine.”
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