Mercy Ngulube

Mercy Ngulube was born with HIV. For much of her 19 years she has refused to let that stop her. She is a courageous social activist who has used her own experiences of stigma and discrimination to drive her commitment and pursuit of equality for young people living with HIV.

She is the former Chair of the Children’s HIV Association’s Youth Committee and drives campaigns on behalf of young people living with HIV. Mercy has been a spokesperson for young people living with HIV both nationally, and internationally.

Mercy is praised for representing CHIVA and the wider community of young people living with HIV, with professionalism, realism, humour, passion and intelligence.

In July 2016, Mercy spoke to HRH Prince Harry at the International HIV Conference in Durban, South Africa about how HIV is portrayed in society and the media, and how together they could combat the stigma.

In May 2017, she received a Diana Legacy Award from Princes William and Harry, a new honour created in their mother’s memory by the Diana Award charity, which works with young people to encourage social change.

Since then, Mercy has gone on to do a TEDx Talk, to encourage other young people to go after the change they want to see in this world. She was also recently invited to the House of Lords in order to present her experiences and expertise in order to shape future policy.