As the 2026 Pride Month celebrations kick off, APCOM is pleased to announce that Youth LEAD is our new community partner for our 10th HERO Awards!
Youth LEAD is a youth-led regional network in Asia and the Pacific that empowers young people from key populations to lead HIV and health responses. Through leadership development, advocacy, and community action, Youth LEAD ensures that young key populations are meaningfully involved in shaping policies and programs that affect their lives.
Celebrating its 10 anniversary this year, the 10th HERO Awards theme is aptly called “TENAC10US” that celebrates the resilience, persistence, and courage of individuals and communities driving change in increasingly challenging environments for LGBTQI+ human rights, and people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
APCOM Executive Director Midnight cheerfully remarked,
“Welcome Youth LEAD as a new HERO Awards regional community partner to celebrate this important milestone of this unique platform that honours outstanding LGBTQI+ advocates, HIV activists, and allies from across the region.”
As the regional community partner, Youth LEAD will be selecting the recipient of the Young Achiever Hero category. Tan Fok Jun (Jeremy), Regional Coordinator of Youth LEAD, commented,
“The HERO Awards celebrate courage and leadership, reminding young advocates that their voices and lived experiences matter.”
Tan Fok Jun (Jeremy), originally from Malaysia is actually the 2022 HERO Awards Recipient for the Young Achiever category, for his work on health, advocacy, and youth, who empowers health organizations in Malaysia to integrate their healthcare model with HIV services such as testing, counselling, and referral of treatment.
The world is still behind on achieving the targets set for young people, and half of all new global HIV infections occur in young people aged 15–24. Structural barriers like gender inequality, violence, poverty, and a lack of comprehensive sexuality education make them particularly vulnerable, and by marginalization, stigma, and lack of youth-friendly services, make them a top priority in ending AIDS
According to UNAIDS 2022 brief Putting Young Key Populations First, young people (15-24) in Asia and the Pacific:
- 99% of young people in the region who acquired HIV in 2020 are people from key populations or their partners
- 97% of all new HIV infections among young people in the region in 2020 occurred in 10 countries
- Almost half of new HIV infections in young people in the region in 2020 were among gay men and other men who have sex with men
Youth LEAD has been working tirelessly since 2010, and over the years they have strengthened a powerful movement of young leaders, amplified youth voices in national, regional, and global spaces, and advanced community-led responses grounded in human rights. At the same time, young key populations continue to face stigma, discrimination, criminalization, and limited access to sustainable funding and decision-making platforms.
Since 2025 Youth LEAD, represented by its Regional Coordinator, Tan Fok Jun (Jeremy), is part of the UNAIDS board, representing the NGO Delegation from Asia and the Pacific. This global platform is the governing body of UNAIDS, where Member States, UN Cosponsors, and civil society come together to guide the global HIV response.
Youth LEAD now joins our long time Regional Community Partners, APN+ and ILGA Asia for our TENAC10US HERO Awards 2026!
To learn more of Youth LEAD:
See our Previous Young Achiever Heroes:
2025
Kai Mata
(Indonesia)
2024
Tseveenravdan Tsogbat
(Mongolia)
2023
Angel Queentus
(Sri Lanka)
2022
Jeremy Tan
(Malaysia)
2021
Ikka Noviyanti
(Indonesia)
2020
Aung Phyo Htut
(Myanmar)
2019
Doan Thanh Tung
(Vietnam)
2018
Justin Francis Bionat
(Philippines)
