GENEVA, 13 October 2016—UNAIDS extends a warm welcome to the new Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres. Mr Guterres will succeed the current United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, who leaves office at the end of this year, having held the position since January 2007.

The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, said, “I congratulate António Guterres on his appointment as Secretary-General. An experienced statesman, multilateralist and advocate for the most vulnerable, he will be a fantastic Secretary-General.”

UNAIDS looks forward to working with Mr Guterres towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, including ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

Mr Guterres is a strong advocate for access to HIV services and respect for the rights of people living with HIV. In his vision statement for Secretary-General he stressed that the “dignity and worth of the person should be fully pursued.”

Mr Guterres has spent more than 30 years in government and public service, including serving as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. In 2005, he was elected as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees by the United Nations General Assembly, serving for a decade until 2015.

Under his leadership, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees played an important role in ensuring access to HIV services for refugees, internally displaced people and other people affected by displacement and 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.