Mr. Stephen Lewis is Co-Director of AIDS-Free World, an international advocacy organization that works to promote more urgent and more effective global responses to HIV/AIDS (www.aidsfreeworld.org). Among several senior UN roles that spanned over two decades, Mr. Lewis was the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa from June 2001 until the end of 2006. From 1995 to 1999, Mr. Lewis was Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. From 1984 through 1988, Stephen Lewis was Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations. In addition to his work with AIDS-Free World, serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Mr. Lewis is also the chair of the board of the Stephen Lewis Foundation in Canada. Mr. Lewis holds 32 honorary degrees from Canadian universities and is a Companion of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest honour for lifetime achievement. In 2007, the Kingdom of Lesotho invested Mr. Lewis as Knight Commander of the Most Dignified Order of Moshoeshoe. The order, named for the founder of Lesotho, is the country's highest honour.
In the United States, the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is being flat-lined, for at least the next two years. That this should happen under President Obama seems inconceivable.
