By Adedapo Adesanya
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has announced the appointment of Winnie Byanyima as its new Executive Director.
“I am honoured to be joining UNAIDS as the Executive Director at such a critical time in the response to HIV,” said Ms Byanyima.
Ms Byanyima, former executive director of Oxfam International, has more than 30 years of experience in political leadership, diplomacy, and humanitarian engagement.
Winnie Byanyima has a wealth of experience and commitment in harnessing the power of governments, multilateral agencies, the private sector, and civil society to end the AIDS epidemic around the world.
“The end of AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is a goal that is within the world’s reach, but I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge ahead. Working with all its partners, UNAIDS must continue to speak up for the people left behind and champion human rights as the only way to end the epidemic,” she said.
According to United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, Byanyima’s appointment as the UNAIDS Executive Director and United Nations Under-Secretary-General followed “a comprehensive selection process that involved a search committee constituted by members of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board.”
“The UNAIDS Committee of Co-sponsoring Organisations made the final recommendation on the appointment to the Secretary-General.”, he said
Prior her appointment, she held the position of Executive Director of Oxfam International since 2013. Before that, she served for seven years as the Director of Gender and Development at the United Nations Development Programme
