United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Winifred ‘Winnie’ Karagwa Byanyima of Uganda as the next Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), office of the spokesperson said in a statement on Friday. The appointment follows an open and wide-ranging search process.
Led by the Co-sponsoring Organizations and chaired by Dr. Natalia Kanem, the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the process included interviews and consultations with Governments and other concerned parties through the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board. Ms. Byanyima succeeds Michel Sidibé who was appointed as Minister of Health and Social Affairs of Mali. The Secretary-General is grateful for Dr. Sidibé’s leadership of UNAIDS from 2009 to 2019 at the forefront of the global response to HIV and AIDS.
Ms. Byanyima brings a wealth of experience and commitment in harnessing the power of government, multilateral agencies, the private sector and civil society to end the HIV and AIDS crisis for communities around the world. She has been the Executive Director of Oxfam International since 2013. Prior to Oxfam, she served for seven years as the Director of Gender and Development at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Secretary-General also extended his appreciation and gratitude to the UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director of Management and Governance, Gunilla Carlsson of Sweden, for her service as Executive Director ad interim. (UNI)
