Studies point to the existence of a global HIV/AIDS emergency among young people. An estimated 6,000 youths a day become infected, an average of one new infection every 14 seconds. The most socially and economically disadvantaged young people appear to be especially at risk of infection, and young women in developing contexts are at the greatest risk. The rate of HIV infection among girls is rapidly outstripping the rate among boys. Girls already account for nearly 60 percent of the infections in sub-Saharan Africa, where the pandemic is most virulent. This paper adopts the hypothesis that this pandemic can be confronted already in early childhood. During the first eight years of life the foundations are set for the capacities, beliefs and attitudes that support individuals later in life. In early childhood, people can therefore more easily learn and integrate appropriate risk avoidance behaviours that may prove useful in the global war on HIV/AIDS. The earliest years may represent a window of opportunity for the successful implementation of HIV/AIDS reduction and prevention programmes. (Contains 190 endnotes.) [This paper was written with Glenda Mac Naughton and Robert Zimmermann.]