This article was originally published on the news24
Koketso Rathumbu, 27, is a LGBTI activist and public health specialist focusing on HIV prevention and management among adolescents and youth. Koketso is the founding director of a non-profit organisation uplifting members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community.
She created the LGBTI Leadership and Development Programme in 2017 to advocate for LGBTI empowerment and leadership. Her goal is to combat prejudice towards the LGBTI community and enable equal opportunities for all.
Koketso is an ambassador for SHE CONQUERS, a national HIV/Aids response campaign targeting adolescent girls and young women. She is also an ambassador of the National Strategic Plan to drastically decrease the rate of HIV, TB and STI’s by the end of 2022.
She has helped key stakeholders such as government departments, donor agencies, and civil society groups help formulate effective strategies to boost HIV prevention. Through her activism, Koketso advocates for the LGTBTI community, adolescent girls and young women, as well as women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.