Princess Tessy of Luxembourg made a personal visit to UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on 14 and 15 September to learn more about the AIDS epidemic as well as the work of UNAIDS.

During the visit, Princess Tessy discussed with UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and UNAIDS experts the challenges facing the AIDS response today and explored areas where she could make a difference, particularly in support of women and girls.

Deeply involved with charities and nongovernmental organizations, Princess Tessy is very interested in young people’s access to health and eliminating gender inequality. She is also interested in using her previous experience in humanitarian work to address AIDS in emergency contexts. In 2004, Princess Tessy volunteered to take part in the United Nations mission in Kosovo as part of the BELUKOS 13/15 detachment.

Princess Tessy travelled to UNAIDS with senior staff members from the Luxembourg Institute of Health, who presented the work that the country is doing to end the AIDS epidemic.

As one of UNAIDS’ top donors, Luxemburg is a long-standing champion of the AIDS response in both its domestic approach to the epidemic and through its support to countries most affected by HIV. Luxembourg is one of UNAIDS’ strongest allies in promoting human rights in the context of HIV, addressing the needs and rights of women and girls, stopping new HIV infections among children and supporting national strategic planning to advance HIV programmes in countries.