Press statement

UNAIDS welcomes the announcement of Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo as President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development

GENEVA, 20 February 2017—UNAIDS extends its congratulations to Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo, former Prime Minister of Togo, who has been newly appointed as President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

“Mr Houngbo’s dynamic approach to leadership and his wealth of experience will be critical to strengthening the link between food and nutrition and good health, which is particularly important for people living with HIV,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Mr Houngbo's commitment to ensuring equality and creating opportunity are shared values and we look forward to working closely together to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Through his many high-level postings within government and the United Nations system, Mr Houngbo has worked to ensure that no one is left behind by providing support in areas ranging from good governance and peacebuilding to eradicating poverty and responding to HIV.

UNAIDS looks forward to working with Mr Houngbo in his new role, in which he will be supporting and empowering rural people to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience, all of which are essential elements to an effective 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.

Contact

UNAIDS Communications
Sophie Barton-Knott
tel. +41 22 791 1697
bartonknotts@unaids.org

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