The Executive Director of UNAIDS has been nominated by the new United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, to represent him at the 2017 Africa–France Summit in Bamako, Mali. The summit, co-organized by France and Mali and taking place on 13 and 14 January, will welcome around 2000 participants across the two days. Around 30 heads of state and government are expected to attend, including the President of France, François Hollande, and the President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.

The theme of the summit is partnerships, peace and security, and in addition to strengthening cooperation between Africa and France, discussions will take place on the current and emerging threats to peace and security and ways of countering them, including improving education and training, increasing investment and bolstering development efforts.

The heads of state will meet in closed sessions devoted to two overarching themes: security, including the fight against terrorism, the economy and development.

On the eve of the event, Mr Sidibé gave the keynote speech at the Youth Forum, which is supported by the United Nations Population Fund, where he called for the empowerment of young people and for social safety nets to be put in place to ensure a more secure future for African youth. The young people prepared a statement in which they called for more investment in young people to enable them to reach their full potential.

As well as participating in the official Africa–France Summit programme and holding one-on-one meetings with high-level representatives, Mr Sidibé will attend an event for first ladies, hosted by the First Lady of Mali, Keita Aminata Maiga, which is aimed at moving the reproductive health agenda forward for young people across Africa. At the end of the session, the first ladies are expected to adopt a commitment to action on health and young people.