Social Justice as Public Health

The global fight against HIV/AIDS changed the world, not just by saving lives, but by advancing human rights. It taught us that we can’t meet public health goals without protecting marginalized and vulnerable people. In the case of HIV/AIDS, this meant reaching LGBTQ+ people, sex workers, and those least able to access treatment and therapeutics.

The results were historic and arguably one of the greatest public health achievements in modern history. Hard-won gains built out a human rights infrastructure that served well into the future. It has not only guided many rights-based sexual and reproductive health initiatives today, but also informed efforts to stop Mpox, Ebola, and COVID, among other health threats.

Despite these successes, recent shifts in the global financial and geopolitical landscapes are putting health and human rights gains at-risk. In this special event at Perry World House, Winnie Byanyima will unpack what needs to happen next to assure that countries have what they need to protect both human rights and healthcare. Drawing on her experience at the helm of UNAIDS, she will discuss how to leverage social justice for public health – and improve on the progress we’ve made.

Panelist

Winnie Byanyima is the Executive Director of UNAIDS and an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. A passionate and longstanding champion for social justice and a global leader on inequality, Ms Byanyima leads the United Nations’ efforts to end the AIDS pandemic by 2030. Ms Byanyima believes that health care is a human right, and she is the co-founder and co-chair of the People’s Medicines Alliance, advocating for equitable access to medical technologies that help to prevent and respond to current and future pandemics.

Before joining UNAIDS, Ms Byanyima served as the Executive Director of Oxfam International. Previously, Ms Byanyima was elected for three terms in the parliament of her country, Uganda, where she led the first parliamentary women’s caucus, championing ground-breaking gender equality provisions in the county’s 1995 post-conflict constitution.

Ms Byanyima led the establishment of the African Union Commission’s Directorate of Gender and Development and served as Director of Gender and Development at the United Nations Development Programme. She founded the Forum for Women in Democracy, a Ugandan nongovernmental organization, and has been deeply involved in building global coalitions on social and economic justice.

Ms Byanyima has co-chaired the World Economic Forum and served on Prime Minister Trudeau’s Gender Advisory Council during Canada’s G7 Presidency. She has also served on the Global Commission on Climate Adaptation, the International Labour Organization’s Global Commission on the Future of Work and the World Bank’s Advisory Council on Gender and Development. In 2025 Ms Byanyima served on President Ramaphosa’s G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Wealth Inequality.

She holds a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Cranfield University and a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Manchester. Ms Byanyima is the recipient of numerous global and national awards, including the 2023 Hall of Femme Award bestowed by IWFSA (International Women’s Forum South Africa). She has been awarded 4 honorary doctorates from the universities of Manchester (UK), Mount Saint Vincent’s (Canada), Cranfield (UK), and Free State (South Africa).

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