Washington, DC, 24 February 2023 – Today Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, participated in “PEPFAR at 20”, an event marking 20 years of US President George W. Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The event was hosted by the George W. Bush Institute at the United States Institute of Peace.
Ms. Byanyima it was a “huge honor” to meet President Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, and she thanked the former President for his “vision and global leadership on HIV/AIDS”.
Meanwhile, yesterday evening, Ms. Byanyima was joined at a gathering at the UN Foundation by Angeli Achrekar, UNAIDS’ new Deputy Executive Director for the Programme Branch, who recently served as Principal Deputy US Global AIDS Coordinator, PEPFAR. The two officials, together with Vinay Saldanha, Director of the UNAIDS’ US Liaison Office in Washington, DC, held an interactive listening session with US-based partners on the global HIV response.
UNAIDS is leading the global effort to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. It is the only cosponsored Joint Programme in the UN system. It draws on the experience and expertise of 11 UN system Cosponsors and is the only UN entity with civil society represented on its governing body. Its Secretariat has offices in 70 countries, with 70% of its staff based in the field.
