U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday named Asha-Rose Migiro of Tanzania, a former U.N. deputy secretary-general, as the new Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, according to a U.N. statement, PANA/Afriquejet reports. As deputy secretary-general from 2007 to 2012, Migiro “was integrally involved in promoting the AIDS response globally and within Africa, with special emphasis on reducing the vulnerability of women and girls and ensuring the rights of people living with HIV,” the news service writes (7/14).

“A decade ago, HIV in Africa was almost entirely an epidemic of despair. … Today, we celebrate progress against AIDS that we never thought possible. Now is the time to take our efforts to a new level. I am committed to the Secretary-General’s vision that the beginning of the end of AIDS in Africa starts now,” Migiro said, the U.N. News Centre notes. Migiro replaces Elizabeth Mataka, who served in the position since 2007, according to the news service (7/13).