Gillings School alum named Haitian prime minister

September 16, 2024

As Haiti faces a political and humanitarian crisis marked by increasing gang violence and economic instability, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health alum will try to steady the country as its new prime minister.

Haiti’s Presidential Transition Council named Garry Conille as prime minister on May 28, 2024. (Photo: UNICEF)

Garry Conille, MD, MPH ’99 (health policy and administration), was sworn in on June 2. He succeeds Michel Patrick Boisvert, who was appointed interim prime minister after the country’s former leader, Ariel Henry, resigned in April.

Haiti’s Presidential Transition Council named Conille prime minister on May 28, tasking him with addressing gang violence in the country until elections for a new president can be held, most likely in early 2026. Conille already served as Haiti’s prime minister from October 2011 to February 2012, when the country was recovering from a devastating earthquake that killed between 100,000 and 160,000 people. At the time, Deborah Bender, PhD, MPH ’81 (health policy and administration), a professor emeritus at the Gillings School, touted Conille’s “indefatigable energy and commitment” to alleviating poverty, adding, “Haiti is fortunate to have such a leader to constructively champion a way forward.”

Conille’s second appointment comes at another critical time as Haiti — with the arrival of a United Nations-backed security mission led by Kenyan police — tries to restore order.

“We are going through an interesting moment, a moment of political groups putting aside their differences for the interest of the nation,” he said during the swearing-in ceremony in Port-au-Prince. “The first instruction the transition council members gave was that we have no time to lose.”

Conille also said while the council has an “encouraging” disposition, he’s aware there are difficulties ahead. Haiti’s political landscape is volatile, and most of its elected positions remain unfilled due to ongoing unrest. In his role, he will work with the nine-member transitional council, which will hold some presidential powers until elections are held. Haiti has been without a president since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in July 2021.

He faces significant challenges: More than 80% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, is controlled by armed gangs, and more than 4,000 people have been killed or injured in gang-related violence this year.

Conille is well-prepared, however. Fluent in English, French and Creole, he has 25 years of experience working with the United Nations and other foreign aid agencies. In addition to his master’s degree from UNC’s Gillings School, he has a medical degree from the University of Haiti. He was a Fulbright Scholar while at at UNC-Chapel Hill, and he has held senior positions with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Before his appointment as prime minister, he served as UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Read more about Prime Minister Conille in a July piece from The New York Times (gift article): “Can this doctor tapped to run Haiti save the country?“

Contact the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@unc.edu.