Director's Profile
Annah Wanjiru Irungu
Teenagers Plus CBO founder, visionary and current Director is a trained psychologist with a background as Life-skills trainer for school based adolescents for over 10 years before she envisioned a community approach of addressing the alarming HIV/AIDS related issues she encountered during the school sessions of the challenges experienced by school children born and living with HIV.
A trained counselor and with immense hands on community leadership with focus on rights of adolescents Sexual reproductive health rights including family planning services for women and girls at community levels. This latter platform has propelled her as a Global Advocate for Universal Access and the Status of Women and is a prominent feature in international forums such as ATHENA, GCWA, ICW, UNGASS and the WNZ a women’s’ rights advocate. She was nominated By UNAIDS for training on the global country’s’ roll-out of the Accelerated Agenda for Women and Girls in the context of HIV in DC and is at the forefront of the roll out nationally in the country. She has co-coordinated the local chapter of UNGASS forum V and continues to be a focal person on matters of Gender Equity and Women Empowerment working closely with international partners such as CHANGE-DC and national bodies involved with HIV/AIDS response locally.
She has held panel discussions on SRH&R and need for its integration to HIV services at the KAISER Foundation in DC and at the Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Pentagon City. She has been interviewed by Lamparina Films – Brazil and the VoA in Washington DC on her advocacy work on Children born and living with HIV in the Kariobangi slums of Nairobi Kenya. Her hands on involvement and championing of women’ agenda informs local and national processes as a Civil Society representative and advisor to country delegation such as the National Agency Coordination Board for Population and Development and other High level Meetings on HIV/AIDS and consults with the Key ministries on Health Budget making processes for national planning bringing on the round table the grounds realities and needs of Most At Risk Populations such as Persons with Disabilities and People Living with HIV. She’s a graduate of America World University- Psychology and the University of Nairobi- Sign language an advocacy tool she uses for representing the under-served the Deaf Community of about 800 persons in her Kariobangi / Korogocho slums.
