Geneva: The United Nations AIDS program says Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed a new executive director for the group.
The UN said yesterday that Michel Sidibe will be the next executive director of UNAIDS, based in Geneva, Switzerland. He is its deputy executive director and was recommended by a UN search committee. Sidibe, a citizen of Mali, replaces Dr Peter Piot as UNAIDS executive director.
In its report on the search for the AIDS program's next leader, the committee reported "a paucity of highly qualified candidates."
An independent audit of UNAIDS is under way to determine the program's future.
The UN has said that the AIDS pandemic probably peaked and is unlikely to cause big outbreaks beyond Africa.
