Press statement

UNAIDS welcomes appointment of Jim Yong Kim as new World Bank President


GENEVA, 17 April 2012—The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) welcomes the selection of Dr Jim Yong Kim as the 12th President of the World Bank Group. Dr Kim’s dedication to improving the lives of the most vulnerable, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, has enabled him to bring innovations in health and development to scale.

“Jim Kim brings insight, inspiration and a proven track record to this important position,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “I look forward to working closely with Jim, as his selection ushers in a new era for the World Bank and how we approach the future of development.”

The World Bank is a UNAIDS Cosponsor and leads the joint programme’s efforts to support strategic, results-oriented national HIV planning; provide sustained, predictable funding for HIV programmes; and promote more efficient, effective and transparent HIV programme implementation.

Dr Kim currently serves as President of Dartmouth College. As the former Director of the World Health Organization’s HIV/AIDS department, he led the “3 by 5” initiative, which resulted in a massive scale up of access to antiretroviral treatment. His early leadership has helped make it possible for more than 6.6 million people to access antiretroviral treatment today.


Contact

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

Press centre

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