Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyima has been appointed as the new UNAIDS executive director. Byanyima has served as executive director of Oxfam for six years since 2013.Ms Byanyima will be replacing Mr. Malian Michel Sidibé who stepped down in May, following several controversies. According to an Independent Expert Panel (IEP) report commissioned by UNAIDS the governing body, Sidibé failed to uphold the United Nations’ laws and values. Sidibe left UNAIDS after a decade-long tenure to join as Mali’s health minister.
In the statement announcing Ms. Byanyima’s appointment, office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations stated that she brought richexperience 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.”Ms Byanyima aged 60, said she was “honoured” to be joining UNAids “at such a critical time in the response to HIV.”
