Gunilla Carlsson joined UNAIDS in February 2018 as the Deputy Executive Director for Management and Governance and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. She was appointed as UNAIDS Executive Director, a.i., from May to October 2019. She leads UNAIDS’ work in promoting effective governance of the Joint Programme and provides strategic direction to management functions in the areas of human resources, finance and budget, information and communication technology and administration in order to enhance UNAIDS’ capacity to implement its mandate and vision.
Before joining UNAIDS, Ms Carlsson served as an elected member of the Swedish Parliament from 2002 to 2013 and as the Minister for International Development Cooperation from 2006 to 2013. She also served as an elected member of the European Parliament from 1995 to 2002. Ms Carlsson was the Chair of the Swedish-initiated Commission on Climate Change and Development in 2007. She was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to a high-level panel for global sustainability ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2012 and served on the United Nations High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
A strong leader in global health and development, Ms Carlsson was a member of the UNAIDS and Lancet Commission: Defeating AIDS—Advancing Global Health and a member of the World Bank High-Level Advisory Council on Women’s Economic Empowerment. She also served on the African Development Bank’s three-member High-Level Panel on Fragile States in 2013 and 2014, advising on strategies related to the Horn of Africa. She is an affiliated member of the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and has served as its Vice-Chair since June 2017.
Ms Carlsson has worked on policy development on foreign policy, human rights, employment, research, security and defence. In addition, she has extensive experience in the development and implementation of policy reforms and efficiency and accountability in complex organizations, including the private sector.
Ms Carlsson was born, raised and educated in Sweden.
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