As Senior Advisor to the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Dr. Djibril Diallo is based at the New York Office and helps advance the priority of universal access to HIVA/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. He works to mobilize support of prominent personalities, Member States, the media and other partners on key issues and strengthen the global response to the epidemic. He also coordinates a global network of youth leaders who are committed to efforts to the fight against HIV/AIDS and the achievement of the other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).Dr. Diallo was the Director of the United Nations New York Office of Sport for Development and Peace from 2004 to 2008. He spearheaded numerous initiatives that demonstrated the power of sport to mobilize the United Nations, its Member States and their governments, private sector partners, civil society, and other stakeholders for peace building and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. He chaired an UN Inter-agency Working Group on Sport for Development and Peace to build cooperation across the UN system, and was as a member of Steering Committee of the 2007 International Year of African Football.
Dr. Diallo also served as Spokesperson for the President of the 59th United Nations General Assembly in 2004-2005, for whom he conceived a strategic communications plan to project overall media coverage throughout 2005, the year commemorating the 60th anniversary of the organization.
Dr. Diallo served as Director of the Communications Office of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from 1995 to 2005. In this capacity, he was responsible for sharpening UNDP’s corporate identity through media and advocacy outreach, and worked with UNDP offices in Brussels, Copenhagen, Geneva, Tokyo and Washington DC, as well as the 133 developing countries around the world. His task was to mobilize political, popular and financial support for UNDP priorities by increasing understanding of its mandate, mission and global activities.
Dr. Diallo serves as the chair of the Leadership Committee for the U.S. Launch of FESMAN 2010 (the World Festival of Black Arts),
which will be held in Senegal in December 2010, offering an opportunity to strengthen to role of the arts in promoting development and
peace. He is also the co-Chair of the World Affairs Taskforce of the U.S.-based National Association of Black Journalists, and is a Board Member of All for Africa, a U.S. non-governmental organization promoting African development, and the Africa Centre in London.
As the initiator of the first ever United Nations Global Youth Leadership Summit in New York in October 2006, organized on behalf of the United Nations system, Dr. Diallo brought together youth leaders between the ages of 18-30 from nearly 192 Member States to exchange perspectives on how young people can accelerate the achievement of the MDGs. The global gathering was the preceded by a series of regional summits and led to the emergence of a youth leadership network. This forms the basis for new partnerships with youth networks on the MDGs, with action against HV/AIDS as an entry point.
Prior to joining UNDP, Dr. Diallo served the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for nine years, acting both as Special Advisor to the Executive Director and as Deputy Director of Public Affairs. He played a central role in the planning of the World Summit for Children and its implementation. He has also served as Special Advisor to the Secretaries-General of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and of the World Conference on Human Rights (WCHR) in Vienna in 1993. Before joining UNICEF, Dr. Diallo was the spokesman for the UN Office for Emergency Operations in Africa (OEOA), where he helped focus world attention on the famine of 1984-85. Dr. Diallo began his career with the United Nations with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1980 in Geneva.
Dr. Djibril Diallo, a citizen of Senegal, earned a Ph.D. in Linguistics and Communication from the University of London, United Kingdom. He has taught languages in Nottingham, UK, and in Africa. His work for peace and sustainable development has been recognized by
numerous national and international organizations.
