Michel Sidibé

A long-standing champion of a people-centered approach to health and development, Dr. Michel Hamala Sidibé was the second Executive Director of UNAIDS from January 2009 until May 2019. He held the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. Through his globally acclaimed leadership at UNICEF, UNAIDS, and the Government of Mali, Dr. Sidibé is recognized as an innovative advocate for social justice, healthy communities, and sustainable development. His passion for advancing global health and justice began in his native Mali, where he took up the cause of the health and well-being of the nomadic Tuareg people, ultimately leading to his appointment as Mali's first country director for Terre des Hommes. In 1984, Michel became a founding member of the CCA-ONG. In 1987, he joined UNICEF in the Democratic Republic of Congo. During a 14-year career at UNICEF, Michel supervised technical assistance programs to 10 French-speaking countries in the formulation of their national programs. He then served as a Representative in Swaziland, Burundi, and Uganda. In 2001, Dr. Sidibé joined UNAIDS as Country and Regional Support Director. In 2007, he was appointed Deputy Executive Director of Programs at UNAIDS and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. In 2008, he was appointed Executive Director of UNAIDS in Geneva. Under his leadership of UNAIDS, more and more countries adopted a Fast-Track approach through which the achievement of a set of measurable targets by 2020 will set the world on course to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2011 in New York, Michel was part of the formulation and launched with Presidents Clinton and Goodluck of the first Global Plan to Eliminate Mother to Child Transmission of HIV. In May 2019, he was appointed Minister of Health and Social Affairs in Mali. In 2020, he was appointed by the African Union to lead the global advocacy to create the African Medicines Agency (AMA). In 2021 he was appointment a board member of The Global Commission on Drug Policy. Dr. Sidibé is alumni of Université de Clermont Ferrand in France and has received honorary doctorates from several universities. Dr. Sidibé is a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor of France, Officer of the National Order of Mali, Officer of the National Order of Benin, and Chancellor of the National Order of Chad. He has been distinguished by the order of Saint Charles of Monaco. He is Commander of the Central African Order of Merit, Commander of the Order of the Lion of Senegal. He has been honored by the Excellency Order of the Pearl of Africa of Uganda.