Community Faces and Voices

Interview with John Edward Greene, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for AIDS in the Caribbean

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoys for AIDS are committed individuals selected by the United Nations Secretary-General to help advance the AIDS agenda at global level and to ensure that AIDS is kept high as a political priority in their respective regions. In a series of interviews with Unaids.org, the Special Envoys for AIDS share their views on the state of the AIDS epidemic and their own role in the global effort to end the epidemic.

John Edward Greene was appointed the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for AIDS in the Caribbean in November 2011, following his role as Assistant Secretary-General for Human and Social Development at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat.

Professor Greene has a long regional and international career in the fields of academia, social sector development, poverty alleviation, organizational development and AIDS. During his time at CARICOM, he crafted the blue-print for the establishment of the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) which was recognized in 2004 as an international best practice in the response to HIV.

In 2010 he was honored by the Government of Suriname, which named him Grand Officer in the Order of the Yellow Star for his contributions to social development and health in the Caribbean, and particularly to the response to AIDS. He was also awarded the Lifetime Youth Award by the Caribbean Youth Ambassadors Corp for his pioneering role in the region’s youth and development agenda.

As one of the Secretary General’s Special Envoys for AIDS, what do you consider to be your role in the response to AIDS?

My role as Special Envoy is to advocate for the targets and commitments laid out in the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. In particular, I aim to promote the concepts of shared responsibility and sustainability of the AIDS response, and putting human rights at the centre of the response. These concepts have been identified as priorities by the Caribbean constituency.

What motivates you in this role?

I am working with UNAIDS to strengthen the Pan Caribbean Partnership  Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), a unique partnership between governments, the private sector, NGOs and development agencies across the English, French, Dutch and Spanish-speaking Caribbean.

Many of the small states that make up the Caribbean lack the capacity to respond to AIDS effectively at a national level. PANCAP brings together national HIV programmes with international and regional organisations to achieve collective success in all areas of the AIDS response.

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