Global Fund Names Interim Executive Director Starting In June

The Board of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has named Marijke Wijnroks of the Netherlands as interim executive director starting on 1 June until a new director can be selected. The international health financing facility this week decided to restart its director search from scratch after questions arose with the final two candidates to replace current Executive Director Mark Dybul, who will return to the United States at the end of his four-year term on 31 May.

Wijnroks has been at the Fund since 2013, “effectively acting as second in command,” according to a press release reprinted below.

“Prior to joining the Global Fund, Dr. Wijnroks served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands as Ambassador for HIV/AIDS, and also Deputy Director of the Social Development Department,” it states. “She has more than 30 years of experience in global health and development work, serving in the government, at the United Nations and in civil society, and working in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. She served on the Board of the Global Fund for several terms.”

Earlier in her career she worked for Médecins Sans Frontières in Uganda, worked as a doctor in Sudan, and for the Pan-American Health Organization/World Health Organization in El Salvador.

It has been unclear why the final two candidates for the executive director post were not acceptable to the secretive organisation’s Board, but speculation has suggested concerns about angering US President Trump (IPW, Public Health, 28 February 2017). The Board could not agree on the procedure for restarting the search during its meeting in Geneva earlier this week, according to a Global Fund press officer. An “implementers’ group” had asked a week before that the Board “reopen the process, appoint a new nominating committee, hire a new recruitment agency, announce the names of candidates, hold a session at which the public could question them, and hold a town hall-style meeting at which staff members could air their views,” according to a letter reported by the New York Times. It also had called for a transition committee and an interim director.

The full Global Fund press release is reprinted below:

Global Fund Names Marijke Wijnroks Interim Executive Director

The Board of the Global Fund has appointed Marijke Wijnroks as Interim Executive Director, to serve from 1 June 2017 until a new Executive Director selected by the Board is able to begin.

Dr. Wijnroks has served as a leader at the Global Fund since 2013, effectively acting as second in command to Mark Dybul, the current Executive Director, who steps down on 31 May 2017 after completion of a four-year term.

The Board said that Dr. Wijnroks brings an incisive degree of knowledge about internal operations at the Global Fund, where she oversees day-to-day work. She chairs decision-making groups such as the Management Executive Committee and Policy Committee when Dr. Dybul is unavailable, and chairs the Grant Approvals Committee on a regular basis. She frequently represents the Global Fund at external events.

“Marijke is a highly effective leader and manager who can get things done,” said Dr. Dybul. “She knows the Global Fund better than anyone and can steer our exceptional staff until a new Executive Director starts.”

The Board decided on 27 February to continue its search for a new Executive Director. The Board will launch a new search process, with the aim of selecting the next Executive Director later this year.

In early 2017, Dr. Wijnroks supervised the preparation of Transition Memos by each member of the Management Executive Committee, in forward planning for a new Executive Director. She will continue those preparations until the Board makes a new selection.

Prior to joining the Global Fund, Dr. Wijnroks served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands as Ambassador for HIV/AIDS, and also Deputy Director of the Social Development Department. She has more than 30 years of experience in global health and development work, serving in the government, at the United Nations and in civil society, and working in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. She served on the Board of the Global Fund for several terms.

Dr. Wijnroks has deep experience in human rights, gender issues and reaching key populations. She is known as a passionate advocate and an irrepressible optimist, with a results-oriented mindset.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Wijnroks served as a medical coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières in Uganda and as a doctor in South Sudan. She also spent five years in El Salvador as a technical adviser for PAHO/WHO developing local health systems, and two years as a project manager in Bangladesh focusing on maternal and child health.

She earned a medical degree from Maastricht University in the Netherlands and a degree in tropical health and medicine from the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium.