Communities Delegation to the Unitaid Board appoints Ms. Maurine Murenga as Board Member and Mr. César Mufanequiço as Alternate Board Member
20 January 2022 (Geneva, Switzerland) — The Communities Delegation of people living with and affected by HIV, TB and malaria and those coinfected with HIV and HCV (Communities Delegation) to the Unitaid Board is delighted to announce the appointments of Ms Maurine Murenga as the Board Member, and Mr César Mufanequiço as the Alternate Board Member. They have both started their two-year terms on 16th December 2021 and will serve until 31st December 2023.
Photo: Maurine Murenga, Board Member
Maurine Murenga is a passionate advocate for the health, development, and human rights of women and girls. With a background in Program Management and Community Development, she is a pioneer amongst the young women and adolescent girls living with HIV movement in Kenya and a fierce advocate towards ending paediatric HIV. Maurine’s passion for advocacy is driven by her lived experience and the inequality and vulnerability that young women and adolescent girls experience in her community. In response to these challenges – she founded the Lean on Me Foundation – an organization that supports access to health services for adolescents, young women, and children living with HIV and affected by TB in Kenya.
Maurine previously served as the Board member of the Communities Delegation on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and was the Alternate Board Member of the Unitaid Communities delegation since February 2021.
Photo: César Mufanequiço, Alternate Board member
César has openly been living with HIV since the early 2000s. He is the founding member and national director of MATRAM, the Mozambican treatment access movement, created in 2004 to advocate for access to treatment for people living with HIV in Mozambique, providing treatment education for community preparedness and demand creation. He is a passionate advocate for peer support and equitable access to treatment, locally and beyond.
Photo: Kenly Sikwese, Outgoing Board member
We would like to take the opportunity to express the Delegation’s gratitude and immense appreciation to out-going Board Member Mr. Kenly Sikwese for his exceptional leadership, enthusiasm, and commitment during his tenure as Board Member of the Communities Delegation from 2018 until 2021.
About Unitaid
Unitaid is a global health agency engaged in finding innovative solutions to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases more quickly, cheaply and effectively, in low- and middle-income countries. Its work includes funding initiatives to address major diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, as well as HIV co-infections and co-morbidities such as cervical cancer and hepatitis C, and cross-cutting areas, such as fever management. Unitaid is now applying its expertise to address challenges in advancing new therapies and diagnostics for the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as a key member of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. Unitaid is hosted by the World Health Organization.
