GENEVA, 10 August 2018—UNAIDS welcomes the appointment of former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet as the United Nations new human rights chief.
Ms Bachelet ended her second four-year term as president earlier this year, having already held the post between 2006 and 2010. She was the first woman to be elected to Chile’s highest office. After her first term, she was appointed the first ever Executive Director of the UN gender equality office, UN-Women based in New York.
A former paediatrician, the politician also held key government posts as Chile’s Minister of Defence and Minister of Health.
“We look forward to working closely with Michelle Bachelet who has always been a strong supporter of human rights and social justice for the most vulnerable and marginalized in society. A people-centred, human rights-based approach is crucial to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.”
Michel Sidibé Executive Director of UNAIDS
The High Commissioner is the top official who speaks out for human rights across the whole UN system, strengthening human rights mechanisms; enhancing equality; fighting discrimination in all its forms; strengthening accountability and the rule of law; widening the democratic space and protecting the most vulnerable from all forms of human rights abuse. Headquartered in Geneva, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is mandated to promote and protect the universal exercise and full realization of human rights, across the world, as established in the UN Charter.
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.
