UN Appoints Uganda’s Winnie Byanyima as UNAids Executive Director

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has appointed Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyima as the UNAIDS Executive Director and United Nations Under-Secretary-General. Her appoinmtment follows a comprehensive selection process that involved a search committee constituted by members of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board. The UNAIDS Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations made the final recommendation on the appointment to the Secretary-General.

Ms Byanyima has been the Oxfam executive director for six years since her appointment in January 2013. She takes over the UNAids roles from Malian Michel Sidibé who stepped down in May, following accusations of serious mismanagement. Mr Sidibé was also accused of creating “a patriarchal culture tolerating harassment and abuse of authority.”

In her acceptance, Ms Byanyima, 60, said she was “honoured” to be joining UNAids “at such a critical time in the response to HIV.”

“I am honoured to be joining UNAIDS as the Executive Director at such a critical time in the response to HIV,” said Ms Byanyima. “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.”

Ms Byanyima began her career as a champion of marginalized communities and women 30 years ago as a member of parliament in the National Assembly of Uganda. In 2004, she became the Director of Women and Development at the African Union Commission, working on the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, an international human rights instrument that became an important tool for reducing the disproportionate effect of HIV on the lives of women in Africa.

She holds an advanced degree in mechanical engineering (in energy conservation and the environment) from the Cranfield Institute of Technology and an undergraduate degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Manchester.

Source: UNAIDS