GENEVA, 5 June 2017—UNAIDS mourns the sudden passing away of the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Babatunde Osotimehin. A renowned global public health leader, Dr Osotimehin was widely regarded for his work on sexual and reproductive health, as well as his work on HIV.
“Babatunde Osotimehin will be remembered for improving the lives of women and young people and promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “Young people have lost a champion today.”
As Executive Director of UNFPA, Dr Osotimehin led the organization’s efforts on HIV prevention, especially among adolescents and young adults, promoting condoms and ensuring that women and adolescent girls receive HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health services. He also led Nigeria’s AIDS response as Minister of Health and as the Director General of Nigeria’s National Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS.
“I have lost a brother, a valued long-time family friend,” said Mr Sidibé. “The UNAIDS family commits to carry forward the legacy of Babatunde.”
UNFPA is one of UNAIDS’ 11 Cosponsors advancing the response to HIV.
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
