Winnie Byanyima, the veteran Ugandan diplomat and seasoned global health advocate, has been appointed as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). The transition, announced by UNAIDS on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, marks a significant shift in Byanyima’s career as she prepares to conclude her tenure as Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) at the end of this year.
Byanyima is set to assume her new role at the London-based IIED in January 2027. The institute, recognized globally as an independent policy and research organization, plays a critical role in shaping international discourse and action on climate resilience, environmental degradation, sustainable development, and economic justice. As Chair of the Board of Trustees, Byanyima will provide the strategic oversight and governance required to steer the organization through a complex global landscape.
The appointment underscores a growing recognition of the intersection between public health, climate change, and socioeconomic inequality. While Byanyima is primarily known for her leadership in health and human rights, her move to the environmental sector highlights the inextricable links between the health of the planet and the well-being of vulnerable populations.
Byanyima’s departure from UNAIDS, confirmed during a special session of the agency’s Programme Coordinating Board on October 26, 2026, brings an end to over seven years of leadership. Since assuming the role in November 2019, she has navigated the Joint Programme through a period of significant volatility, characterized by institutional reform, fiscal constraints, and the persistent challenges posed by the global HIV epidemic.
In a formal statement, UNAIDS lauded her contributions, noting that she led the agency with “courage and determination” during turbulent times. The agency highlighted her success in keeping the global AIDS response grounded in human rights, data-driven evidence, and a core focus on the communities and individuals living with HIV. “She has steered the Joint Programme through turbulent times, strengthened its foundations and sustained a strong global AIDS response,” the statement read.
Byanyima’s professional history suggests that the transition to the IIED is a return to her roots in broad-spectrum development policy. Before leading UNAIDS, she served as the Executive Director of Oxfam International from 2013 to 2019, where she earned a reputation as a fierce campaigner against global economic inequality, taxation injustices, and wealth disparity. Her earlier career included a tenure as the Director of Gender and Development at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a stint as a Ugandan legislator representing Mbarara Municipality.
The appointment comes at a crucial juncture for international development institutions. As the world approaches the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, organizations like the IIED are grappling with the realities of shrinking development financing, the intensifying impacts of nature loss, and the compounding effects of climate change on the world’s most impoverished nations.
By shifting from an executive leadership role to a non-executive governance position at the IIED, Byanyima will leverage her extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy to influence long-term policy. While UNAIDS has yet to announce a successor for her current role, the organization emphasized its gratitude for her service and expressed full confidence in her capacity to lead the IIED in its mission to address the climate and environmental crises that define the current era. Byanyima has committed to remaining at her post at UNAIDS with full engagement until her mandate expires on December 31, 2026.
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