Yaneth del Pilar Valencia Lerma

Yaneth Valencia is an Afro-Colombian activist and founder of the Asociación Lila Mujer in Cali, Colombia. Valencia is a reference for black women with HIV from the communities of south-western Colombia. She was the creator of the Red de Mujeres Populares viviendo con VIH in Colombia, as well as the coordinator of the Movimiento de Mujeres Positivas de América Latina y el Caribe. In 2007 she won the “Por una Cali Mejor” prize, awarded by the mayor’s office of Santiago de Cali. In 2008 and 2013 she was recognized by the same institution with an Honourable Mention for her work with the Asociación Lila Mujer. In 2010, she was elected Mujer Cafam and, in 2014, the independent media La Silla Vacía named her “one of the 100 most influential women in Colombia”. In 2015 and 2018 Valencia was invited as a speaker to the World Forum of Women with HIV held in South Africa.