GENEVA, 23 December 2017—UNAIDS warmly welcomes the announcement by the United Nations Secretary-General that Henrietta Holsman Fore has been appointed as the new Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Ms Fore is a champion of economic development, education, health and humanitarian assistance and was the first woman to serve as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and as the Director of United States Foreign Assistance.
“We look forward to working closely with Henrietta Holsman Fore and continuing to collaborate with UNICEF on our common goals—stopping new HIV infections among children, ensuring access to HIV treatment and making sure that children living with and affected by HIV get the care and support they need,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS.
UNICEF is a founding Cosponsor of UNAIDS and in 2011 joined UNAIDS, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and other partners to develop the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive. The plan helped to significantly reduce new HIV infections among children in the countries most affected by HIV.
From 2010 to 2016 there was a 56% decline in new HIV infections among children in eastern and southern Africa. However, access to treatment for children continues to lag behind. Globally, just 43% of children living with HIV had access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy in 2016, compared to 54% of adults.
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.
