GENEVA, 14 September 2010— The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) welcomes the UN Secretary-General’s announcement of the appointment of Ms Michelle Bachelet as head of UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
The new entity, which was created in July 2010, has been established to provide a powerful voice for women and girls and will be instrumental in helping to achieve UNAIDS’ vision of zero discrimination, zero new HIV infections and zero AIDS-related deaths.
“Gender inequities, violence, lack of access to education, health and economic opportunities make women particularly vulnerable to HIV,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “I look forward to working closely with Ms Bachelet to restore the dignity and rights of women all over the world and advance the response to HIV.”
Nearly half the people living with HIV in the world are women and AIDS is the leading cause of death in women of reproductive age worldwide.
