“We are thrilled to have Françoise Girard head the IWHC team,” said Brian Brink, Board Chair, on announcing IWHC’s new president.  “Françoise is well known in the global health and human rights communities for her long-standing commitment to women’s sexual and reproductive rights and health.  She brings stature, proven management skills, as well as vision and intellectual leadership to the organization’s fight for a just and healthy life for all women and girls.”

After an intensive search, Françoise Girard joins the organization at a critical time. The period 2012-2015 is pivotal for advancing sexual and reproductive rights and health for women and young people throughout the world. The 20th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 2014 and the UN’s review of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015 offer unique opportunities to mobilize governments and the UN to intensify their support for the sexual and reproductive rights and health of women and young people.  With Girard as President, IWHC will play a critical role in providing leadership, building capacity, mobilizing activists, and influencing policy-makers. 

“The struggle for sexual and reproductive rights and health is at an important juncture today,” said Françoise Girard.  “As an advocate and funder, I have been passionately committed for many years to ensuring that women, men and young people can control their lives and bodies, and can access the health care and information they need without discrimination, abuse or coercion. I am incredibly honored and excited to be given this opportunity to build on the Coalition’s rich 26-year legacy – to join an impressive team working creatively with partners on the ground to support a new generation of women’s leadership and to influence policy-makers and funding decisions.”

Girard has played a key role in advocacy in UN agencies and UN Conferences such as ICPD+5, Beijing+5, Special Session on HIV/AIDS and on Children, ICPD+10, 2005 World Summit on the MDGs. She recently concluded a six-year tenure as the Director of the Public Health Program at Open Society Foundations (OSF), where she oversaw an annual budget of 40 million USD and a staff of 55. Girard also was Regional Director for Southern Central and Eastern Europe and Haiti at OSF in the 1990s. From 1999 to 2003, she was Senior Program Officer for International Policy at the International Women’s Health Coalition. She currently serves as Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Health and Human Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, and was the Chair of the Leadership Programme Committee of the 2010 International AIDS Conference, a 20,000+ participant biannual scientific conference. She has contributed many articles to peer-reviewed journals such as International Family Planning Perspectives and her other writings include “Negotiating Sexual Rights and Sexual Orientation at the United Nations,” in SexPolitics: the Front Lines, 2007; and “Advocacy for Sexuality and Women’s Rights: Continuities, Discontinuities and Strategies since ICPD” in Reproductive Health and Human Rights: The Way Forward.  Girard holds an M.A. in Political Science from McGill University, and an LL.B. from the Université de Montréal.

Françoise Girard will take up her new position as President of IWHC on February 21st, 2012.

“For more than 25 years, with partners in the Global South, IWHC has influenced policies and funding by global agencies and governments to secure the rights and health of women and girls.  We are delighted that Françoise Girard will add her skills and experience to IWHC’s commitment to this work at the highest levels. We also know that Françoise will work collaboratively with leaders of NGOs as we tackle the realities of our local challenges.” 
-    Lilian Abracinskas, Director, Mujer Y Salud en Uruguay (MYSU)

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