Joy Phumaphi
Former Minister of Health, Botswana
Mrs. Joy Phumaphi is a former PMNCH Board Chair, Assistant-Director General of the World Health Organization, Vice-President of the Human Development Network of the World Bank in February 2007 and Executive Secretary of ALMA- African Leaders Malaria Alliance. Mrs Phumaphi began public service in Botswana as a local government auditor. From 1994 to 2003, she went on to serve in Parliament and as Representative to the Southern African Development Community. She entered the Cabinet with responsibility for lands and housing and developed the first National Housing Policy. She subsequently served as Minister for Health, where she restructured the ministry to make it more focused on results, while overseeing revision of the Public Health Act and putting into action a multi-sectoral plan to combat HIV/AIDS.
In 2003, Mrs Phumaphi joined the World Health Organization (WHO) as Assistant Director General for the Family and Community Health Department. She has been a Board member of The GAVI Alliance, formerly known as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization as well as Chair of the PMNCH Board. She has served as a member of the United Nations’ (UN) Reference Group on Economics and as a UN Commissioner on HIV/AIDS and Governance and as a member of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Advisory Board for Africa and the AAI.
Mrs Phumaphi holds a Master of Science degree in Financial Accounting and Decision Sciences from Miami University, Ohio.