Winnie Byanyima, head of UNAids: I am somebody who fights for social justice and gender equality
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Winnie Byanyima, head of UNAids. has devoted her life to advancing human rights and equality, first in her home country Uganda, and then on the global stage: “We live in a complex world, a challenging world. I am somebody who fights for social justice and gender equality, and I continue to do so. It's maybe a tough environment, but I do not change my position. I don't alter it at all.” Part of the pro-democracy movement in Uganda, she is now a critic of the country’s leadership and what she believes to be the wrongful arrest and detention of her husband Kizza Besigye. And as the leader of a global organisation charged with co-ordinating the response to HIV Aids, she is having to weigh up funding cuts, a loss of trust in the UN and increasing global conflict. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Joy Phumaphi of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance and artist Tracey Emin. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. Presenter: Catherine Byaruhanga Producers: Clare Williamson and Osman Iqbal Editor: Damon Rose Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Images: Winnie Byanyima Credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.0 | Hello, I'm Catherine Beara Hunger, BBC correspondent and presenter. |
| 0:10.5 | And this is the interview from the BBC World Service, |
| 0:14.5 | the best conversations coming out of the BBC, |
| 0:17.9 | people shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:22.1 | If you're not a little bit afraid, then you're not paying attention. |
| 0:26.8 | We have never seen a people so united. Do not make that boat crossing. Do not make that journey. |
| 0:33.0 | Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. We're more popular than populism. |
| 0:40.7 | For this interview, I met Winnie Bianima, head of UN AIDS on the line from the UN headquarters |
| 0:47.2 | in New York. She has devoted her life to advancing human rights and equality, first in her home country, Uganda, and then on |
| 0:56.8 | the global stage. An engineer by training, she became a diplomat and politician before moving into |
| 1:03.9 | humanitarian work. Banyama was part of the movement that overthrew Milton Obote and other |
| 1:10.7 | military regimes in Uganda. |
| 1:12.9 | And you're going to hear why she thinks Uganda is backsliding on democracy |
| 1:17.3 | and about her husband, Dr Kiza Bessie, who's in a Ugandan jail awaiting trial for treason. |
| 1:24.5 | Spearheading the global fight against HIV AIDS, she talks about funding cuts and the |
| 1:30.4 | restrictions now commonly placed on how aid money is spent. And as another war adds to global |
| 1:38.0 | humanitarian challenges, we hear her disappointment and hope for the United Nations organisation that she represents. |
| 1:47.4 | Look at the war that has broken out in the Middle East. |
| 1:51.9 | I think I read somewhere that it's costing $1 billion a day. |
| 1:56.7 | And yet you need only a couple of hundreds of millions |
| 2:01.6 | to deliver humanitarian assistance and rescue people in crisis context. |
... |
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