Mr Sy was Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) from 2014 to 2019. He currently serves as co-Chair of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board.
Prior to his leadership role at the IFRC, Mr Sy was UNICEF’s Director of Partnerships and Resource Development in New York. He has also served as UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa and Global Emergency Coordinator for the Horn of Africa.
Mr Sy held leadership positions with the United Nations Development Programme in New York, with the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and with UNAIDS.
Before joining the United Nations, Mr Sy served as Director of Health and Development Programmes with Environment and Development Action in the Third World in Dakar, Senegal.
Mr Sy holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and Human Sciences from the University of Dakar. He then pursued Master’s studies in Arts and Germanistik at the University of Graz and graduated from the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. He was also awarded a postgraduate diploma in Education from the École normale supérieure in Dakar. He speaks English, French and German and is a national of Senegal.
“Kofi Annan was a towering figure who made a difference in the lives of people not only in Africa but around the world. Our job now is to take his vision forward and ensure that his values are reflected in our ambition to achieve a fairer and more peaceful world.”