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Graça Machel pays tribute to her friend and colleague, Stephen Lewis, remembering him as a relentless advocate for children in conflict zones and a fierce warrior against HIV & AIDS in Africa.

Stephen Lewis, who died March 31, age 88, was a Canadian political leader, an ambassador to the UN, and a weekly panellist on CBC Radio, but he’ll be remembered most for his efforts to bring international attention to the HIV pandemic in Africa. On this episode, we hear Lewis channeling the full force of his eloquence in service of that defining goal, in excerpts from his 2005 CBC Massey Lectures, titled “Race Against Time." Listen to the podcast here

Please click here Please find above the link to the recording of the recent memorial for Stephen Lewis.   If you wish to view, please copy and paste this link into your browser, or go to YouTube and search for Stephen Lewis Memorial.

  You are invoited to join online an event to Honour Stephen Lewis. Through the link below you can watch his memorial live online on April 26 at 11 a.m. (Eastern Time) / 6 p.m. (East Africa Time), from Toronto, Canada. https://lnkd.in/eMC2SQSr Stephen believed in the power of collective action and in the profound impact of standing together in solidarity. This gathering will be an opportunity to honour his extraordinary life, reflect on the lives he touched, and reaffirm the shared purpose that continues to guide us. The video will go live when the memorial begins. If you are not able to join live, a recording will be made available in due course and we will try and share this also through the blog.

April 4, 2026 Stephen Lewis Was a Singular Man on a Mission By Stephanie Nolen A few weeks ago in Lusaka, I spent some time with old friends: activists I met nearly 25 years ago, reporting on the H.I.V. epidemic. Back then, they were young people locked in a desperate fight for survival.

Dear colleagues, Stephen’s passing brought to mind our conversations in the early 1990s when I was drafting the Executive Director‘s speeches and Stephen was preparing his own speeches as UNICEF Special Representative.

I join many former UNICEF staff members in expressing profound sorrow at the passing of Stephen Lewis - a friend, colleague, mentor, and fellow Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. I first learned about Stephen Lewis in the 1980s when he was the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. He was a fervent multilateralist and a staunch believer in the principles and ideals of the United Nations. I recall reading a memorable speech he delivered in defense of the UN, in which he said that even if the rest of the UN were useless - which, of course, it was not - the actions and achievements of UNICEF alone would justify its raison d'être.   There was tremendous mutual admiration between Lewis and the then UNICEF Executive Director, James Grant, and Deputy Executive Director, Richard Jolly. Whenever UNICEF needed an inspiring speaker to support its advocacy for child survival and development, Grant and Jolly often turned to Ambassador Lewis. Jolly once remarked that Stephen Lewis was po...

“Today, I join Canadians in mourning the loss of Stephen Lewis, a pillar of compassionate leadership in Canadian democracy and a renowned global champion for human rights and multilateralism."

The children of UNICEF are leading this world!  Avi Lewis is the son of former UNICEF Deputy Executive Director and visionary, Stephen Lewis.  Avi is now leading Canada's New Democratic Party.

"We can also unite the country around a different ethos. An ethos of public health," said Stephen Lewis on June 10, 2025, at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS national summit of medical and HIV experts to raise the alarm about the immense threat that U.S. funding cuts to HIV programs pose to millions at risk of disease and death globally, and the need for Canadian leadership to help prevent a resurgence in AIDS.

Facebook post by the Stephen Lewis Foundation This #BookLoversDay we’re spotlighting a powerful and enduring read.   It has been 20 years since Race Against Time, the bestselling book based on Stephen Lewis’s 2005 Massey Lectures, was first published.

  Facebook post shared by Niloufar Pourzand Avi Lewis  is at  Scarborough . 17h    ·  Toronto    ·  My father Stephen Lewis is spectacularly uninterested in social media, so I’m posting this myself (though he has read it and is prepared to suffer the indignity of all I'm about to reveal).

Editor's Note: In 2006 Vanessa Redgrave and her son, Carlo Nero, produced the documentary, Wake Up World, in celebration of UNICEF's 60th Anniversary.   Now that we are celebrating our 75th Anniversary, it is a good moment to watch this important film again. You will recognize many familiar faces:  (in order of appearance) Richard Reid, Stephen Lewis, Richard Jolly, Ann Veneman, Kul Gautam, Jim Grant, Carol Bellamy, Kofi Annan, Kia Molly Okello, and several of UNICEF's Special Envoys.    Many thanks to Kul Gautam, Paloma Escudero, and Tanya Turkovich for recovering this important documentary from UNICEF's archives. On 7 December 2006 UNICEF's webpage carried the following article: "Vanessa Redgrave is widely considered one of the finest actors of her generation. She is equally well known as a passionate activist in the cause of children and an advocate of peace, tolerance and reconciliation. In June 1995, she was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. To ma...