Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-GeneralUNAIDS
Nafis Sadik is Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General, with the rank of Under Secretary-General, and UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. She was a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Alliance of Civilizations, and also served as a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. Educated in medicine and gynecology in Calcutta, Karachi, and at Johns Hopkins University, Dr Sadik joined the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 1971, and was its Executive Director from 1987-2000. On her appointment, she was one of the highest ranking women in the UN system to head one of its major voluntarily funded programmes. She is well-known for her leadership in the fields of international maternal and child health, reproductive and sexual health, and as a strong advocate for education in the prevention of HIV and AIDS. She was the Laureate of the United Nations Population Award 2001.