Media Release

Announcement: Fondation Botnar appoints Dr. Flavia Bustreo to its Board, 20/09/2018 – Basel, Switzerland.

Fondation Botnar is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Flavia Bustreo, an international expert and advocate for child health and wellbeing, to its Board, effective September 19, 2018.

Dr. Flavia Bustreo was the former Assistant Director-General for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health for the World Health Organization (WHO). She led the organization’s work in maternal, child health, climate change, aging, vaccinations, health and human rights, health and gender equity, and the social determinates of health. She was a principle creator of the Global Strategy for Women Child and Adolescent Health in 2010 and 2015. She also contributed substantially to the UN Taskforce on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 & 5 to reduce maternal and child mortality and to the development of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 on health and wellbeing.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Flavia Bustreo to our Board,” says Dr. Peter Lenz, President of the Fondation Botnar Board. “Dr. Bustreo’s strong interest in children’s rights and her expertise in policy development concerning adolescent health will help bring us closer to our vision to create a better tomorrow for all children by investing in emerging solutions today.”

“I am thrilled to be joining the Fondation Botnar Board and looking forward to working together for improved health systems and city systems to meet the needs of young people,” says Dr. Flavia Bustreo. “By 2050, 70% of the world’s children will live in urban areas, and therefore I share the commitment of the team toward ensuring the active participation of young people in shaping the policies and planning that will impact their health and their urban environment.”

Dr. Bustreo’s contributions to global health have been recognized with numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex in 2018. She has also served as the Executive Director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), as Interim Deputy Director of the Child Survival Partnership, and on the GAVI Board as co-chair.

Previously she held a variety of roles at WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank in Sudan, the United States and Denmark. As Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Norway she helped shape the government’s USD 1 billion contribution to infant and child health.

Dr. Flavia Bustreo is a member of several boards, including the United Nations University’s International Institute for Global Health. She currently advises several governmental and non-governmental entities, including the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO).

Dr. Bustreo has a degree in medicine and a postgraduate qualification in rehabilitation medicine from Padua University, Italy, and later obtained a M.Sc. in Communicable Disease Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She has worked as a clinician with children and adolescents with disabilities and in refugee camps in the former Yugoslavia.