Elhadj As Sy is the Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation Board, and Co-chair of the
WHO/World Bank Global Pandemic Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB). In addition to
these functions, Mr. Sy is also a Commissioner for the Global Commission on Climate
Adaptation, Governor at the Wellcome Trust, and a member of the Governing Board of
Interpeace as well as numerous other boards and organizations.

Mr. Sy has extensive experience in leadership roles in the humanitarian, health, environment,
development sectors, and has previously served as the Secretary General of the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) IFRC ‐ the world’s largest
humanitarian network. Prior to this appointment, he served at a senior level with UNICEF,
UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and other agencies for
more than 25 years.

Mr. Sy was UNICEF’s Director of Partnerships and Resource Development in New York. He
has also served as UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa and Global
Emergency Coordinator for the Horn of Africa.

From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Sy was Director, HIV/AIDS Practice with the United Nations
Development Programme in New York. Before that, he worked with the Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as its Africa Regional Director and later as Director of
Operational Partnerships and Country Support in Geneva. Mr. Sy has also held the position of
UNAIDS Representative in New York and Director of the New York Liaison Office.
From 1988 to 1997, he served as Director of Health and Development Programmes with
Environment and Development Action in the Third World in Dakar, Senegal.
Mr. Sy holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and Human Sciences from the University of Dakar.
He then pursued Master’s studies in Arts and Germanistik at the University of Graz, and
graduated from the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. He was also awarded a post graduate
diploma in Education from the École normale supérieure in Dakar. He speaks English, French
and German and is a national of Senegal