Plenary Speakers

Joy Phumaphi is a former Minister of Health of Botswana. In addition to serving as GPMB Co-Chair, she also serves as Executive Secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance; Co-Chair of the Global Partnership and Fund to End Violence Against Children; Co-Chair of the Lancet pathfinder commission on climate change and Health; and Board Chair of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership to End Malaria.

Ms. Phumaphi previously co-chaired the United Nations (UN) Secretary General’s Independent Accountability Panel for Every Woman, Every Child, Every Adolescent; most recently Interim Co-CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative; previously served as a member of the UN High-Level Panel on Global Response to Health Crises; a member of the UN Reference Group on Economics; and as a UN Commissioner on HIV/AIDS and Governance.

Before becoming Minister of Health, Ms. Phumaphi served the people of Botswana as Principal Local Government Auditor and subsequently as a Member of Parliament - holding portfolios for Lands and Housing, where she introduced the country’s first housing policy requiring that local authorities house all destitute people. During her time as Minister of Health, she introduced the first public sector universal antiretroviral program in the developing world.

Ms. Phumaphi later joined the World Health Organization (WHO) as the Assistant Director-General for Family and Community Health and was responsible for the 2005 World Health Report, “Making Every Mother and Every Child Count”. She has also served as Vice President for Human Development at the World Bank where she oversaw a dramatic expansion of the network evaluation program.

Ms. Phumaphi sits on the boards of several international organizations and is an advisor to multiple global health initiatives. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in commerce and a Master’s degree in Finance and Accounting.

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