The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is very pleased to announce the appointment of Vuyiseka Dubula as the new Head of the Community, Rights & Gender Department starting on 9 October 2023.
Vuyiseka is currently the Lead, African Advocacy & Partnerships, at the Stephen Lewis Foundation. She is the former Director of the Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management at the Stellenbosch University. She has been living openly with HIV for more two decades and has been a leader in the people living with HIV movement throughout this time. Vuyiseka was Executive Director of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) from 2007-2013. She is currently a commissioner on the O’Neill-Lancet Global Commission on Racism, Structural Discrimination and Global Health for 2022-2025 period. She has served on the South African National AIDS Council and was a founder of the Activist Centre for Education & Development in 2009. The Centre facilitates access to higher education for women living with HIV and creates platforms for community activist leaders, particularly women, to reflect, write and record their stories.
“Community leadership is at the center of the responses to HIV, TB and malaria,” said Marijke Wijnroks, Head of the Strategic Investment and Impact Division of the Global Fund. “Gender equality, human rights, health equity, and strong community systems are critical to achieving the Global Fund’s stepped-up ambition. Following an extensive search process, I am delighted to say that we found the ideal person for this role. As a person living with HIV, Vuyiseka’s lived experience and leadership style are well aligned to what we need from this critical role.”
Vuyiseka has received various awards, including the 2018 Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law. In 2015, she received the Global Leadership Award from Acacia Global and in 2010, the John M. Lloyd AIDS Leadership Award. In 2004, she was recognized by the University of Oslo as a “courageous leader.” In 2021, she was awarded a PhD for her work titled “Too Poor to Be Treated: Bottom-up Advocacy by HIV-Positive Activists in Khayelitsha and Lusikisiki, South Africa.”
Vuyiseka is originally from South Africa and holds a PhD in development studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She also holds a postgraduate diploma and an MPhil in HIV/AIDS management from Stellenbosch University. Her undergraduate studies were in health and social sciences (applied psychology) from the University of South Africa.