PRINCESS KASUNE ZULU

Global AIDS Activist

HIV/AIDS advocate & educator, World Vision’s HIV & AIDS Hope Initiative
Ambassador, Burnet Institute
Child Advocate and HIV/AIDS Advocate, World Vision (2001-2008)
Unit: Developing Leadership Identity
Topic: Creating Vision

Princess Kasune Zulu is a world-renowned HIV and AIDS advocate, educator and activist. She travels the world speaking about the impact of AIDS on women and children, and raising awareness of related issues such as poverty, education for girls, human rights, gender and equality.

Zulu knows first-hand what life is like living with AIDS. She lost both her parents and two siblings to AIDS before contracting the disease herself in 1997. Since she received this news Zulu has dedicated her life to educating her fellow-countrymen in Zambia about the realities of living with the disease and what they could do to help prevent it spreading further in the population. Zulu created, produced and hosted her own national radio program called Positive Living, which ran for several years and was translated into seven local Zambian languages. From there, Zulu took up work with World Vision to continue her campaign on AIDS and HIV education. She first started working with the international organisation at the grass-roots level in Zambia, taking her message to schools and clinics. She was soon responsible for delivering the program in 21 development areas and is now part of World Vision’s HIV and AIDS Hope Initiative program.

In 2003, Zulu joined a delegation to the White House that helped convince President George Bush to commit $15b to the fight against AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. Soon after, George Bush signed into law the US Global AIDS program which pledged $3m annually to help prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS in Africa. He invited U2 front-man Bono and Zulu to be there with him when he signed the bill.