Winnie Byanyima

Winifred "Winnie" Karagwa Byanyima

Winifred "Winnie" Karagwa Byanyima is a Ugandan United Nations official serving as Executive Director of UNAIDS and a United Nations Under-Secretary-General. Her career spans Uganda's parliament, gender and development work in African and United Nations institutions, and leadership of Oxfam International.

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About Winnie Byanyima

Profile information current to 2026-08-22.

Uganda · Executive Director, United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Former Ugandan parliamentarian

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Also known as: Winifred Karagwa Byanyima
Known for: HIV and AIDS response; Global health equity and access to medicines; Gender equality and women's political participation; International development; Global economic inequality
Country: Uganda

Executive Director
United Nations Under-Secretary-General
Former Ugandan parliamentarian

At a glance

Byanyima has led UNAIDS since November 2019 and holds the rank of United Nations Under-Secretary-General.
Before joining UNAIDS, she led Oxfam International and held senior gender-and-development roles at the United Nations Development Programme and African Union Commission.
Her public career includes extended service in Uganda's legislature and leadership of the country's first parliamentary women's caucus.
Her areas of public work include the HIV response, access to medicines, gender equality and global economic inequality.

Leadership of UNAIDS

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Byanyima as Executive Director of UNAIDS and a United Nations Under-Secretary-General in August 2019. She assumed leadership of UNAIDS on 1 November 2019. In that role, she leads United Nations efforts directed at ending AIDS as a public-health threat by 2030.

International development career

Byanyima became Executive Director of Oxfam International in 2013 after senior work on gender and development. She previously spent seven years as Director of Gender and Development at the United Nations Development Programme and had led the establishment of the African Union Commission's Directorate of Gender and Development.

Ugandan public life and women's representation

Before her international leadership roles, Byanyima served in Uganda's legislature and founded the Forum for Women in Democracy. UNAIDS and United Nations biographies say she was elected for three terms and served 11 years in parliament, led Uganda's first parliamentary women's caucus and championed gender-equality provisions in the 1995 constitution. A Daily Monitor account categorizes parts of this service differently, creating uncertainty over the precise number of parliamentary terms.

Education and wider policy work

The University of Manchester identifies Byanyima as an alumna with a BSc in Aeronautical Engineering. Cranfield University's main alumni material identifies an MSc in Energy Conservation and the Environment completed in 1988, although another Cranfield alumni page gives a conflicting credential description. Her later public work has also included co-founding and co-chairing the People's Medicines Alliance and serving on the G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality during South Africa's 2025 G20 presidency.

Timeline

1988 Completed an MSc in Energy Conservation and the Environment at Cranfield University, according to the university's main alumni page.
2013-01-15 Oxfam International announced her appointment as its Executive Director.
2019-08-14 United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed her Executive Director of UNAIDS and a United Nations Under-Secretary-General.
2019-11-01 Joined UNAIDS and assumed the Executive Director role.
2025 Served on the G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality during South Africa's G20 presidency.

Additional verified details

Current context

Executive Director of UNAIDS and United Nations Under-Secretary-General. Current UNAIDS leadership and United Nations biography pages identify Byanyima in these roles. The status should be rechecked immediately before publication.
Co-founder and co-chair of the People's Medicines Alliance. This role is listed on the current UNAIDS biography; external organizational affiliations can change and should be rechecked before publication.

Biographical facts

Byanyima is Ugandan.
As UNAIDS Executive Director, she leads United Nations efforts aimed at ending AIDS as a public-health threat by 2030.
Before leading Oxfam International, she served for seven years as Director of Gender and Development at the United Nations Development Programme.
She led the establishment of the African Union Commission's Directorate of Gender and Development and held a gender-and-development director role at the commission before joining UNDP.
UNAIDS and United Nations institutional biographies state that Byanyima was elected for three terms and served 11 years in Uganda's parliament.
During her Ugandan legislative service, she led the country's first parliamentary women's caucus and is credited by UNAIDS with championing gender-equality provisions in Uganda's 1995 post-conflict constitution.
The University of Manchester identifies Byanyima as an alumna with a BSc in Aeronautical Engineering.
Cranfield University's main alumni page and UNAIDS identify Byanyima as having completed an MSc related to energy conservation and the environment in 1988, while another Cranfield alumni page gives a conflicting credential description.

Connections

Affiliations

Affiliations associated with Winnie Byanyima.

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Executive Director 2019-11-01–present
United Nations Under-Secretary-General 2019-08-14–present
People's Medicines Alliance Co-founder and co-chair present
Oxfam International Executive Director 2013-01-15
United Nations Development Programme Director of Gender and Development
African Union Commission Gender and development director
Forum for Women in Democracy Founder