Global Health Studies Speaker Series | The Honorable Michel Sidibe

The Global Health Studies Program will present its Spring 2021 Global Health Speaker Series. The series—organized by Jackson Professor Catherine Panter-Brick and Jackson lecturer Cara Fallon—examines transformative relationships between health and a range of fields including public policy, law, technology, international relations, scientific research, economy, journalism, and more.

The Honorable Michel Sidibe, Minister of Health and Social Affairs of Mali and former Executive Director of UNAIDS, will discuss global health and diplomacy.

Sidibé’s passion for advancing global health began in his native Mali, where he took up the cause of the nomadic Tuareg people. His tireless efforts to improve their health and welfare evolved into a role as a country director for the international development federation Terre des Hommes. Since those early days, Sidibé has spent more than 25 years in public service.

In 1987, Sidibé joined UNICEF in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). In his 14 years at UNICEF he oversaw programs across 10 francophone countries in Africa. He also served as a UNICEF country representative in several African countries, including Burundi, Swaziland and Uganda.

Sidibé became the Director of the Country and Regional Support Department of UNAIDS in 2001. In 2007, he was appointed as UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director of Programmes and Under Secretary-General of the United Nations. With this new mandate, he led UNAIDS’ contributions to regional and country responses as well as its efforts in global policies, evidence, and monitoring and evaluation.

The Zoom webinar will include introductory remarks by Professor Panter-Brick (Professor of Anthropology, Health, and Global Affairs) and Professor Robert Hecht (Professor of Clinical Epidemiology), a brief presentation by Minister Sidibe on global health and diplomacy on the African continent, and audience Q&A moderated by Jackson lecturer Cara Fallon.