Elhadj As Sy is the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). He began this leadership role on August 1, 2014, and is based at the IFRC secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. He has extensive experience in leadership roles in the humanitarian sector, having previously served at a senior level with UNICEF, UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and other agencies for more than 25 years.

Before joining the IFRC – the world’s largest humanitarian network – Elhadj 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.

From 2005 to 2008, Elhadj was Director of HIV/AIDS Practice with the United Nations Development Programme in New York. Before that, he worked with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as its Africa Regional Director and later as Director of Operational Partnerships and Country Support in Geneva. He has also held the position of UNAIDS Representative in New York and Director of the New York Liaison Office.

From 1988 to 1997, he served as Director of Health and Development Programmes with Environment and Development Action in the Third World in Dakar, Senegal.

Elhadj holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and Human Sciences from the University of Dakar. He then pursued a 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.