IBFAN is sad to hear the news that Stephen Lewis, an outspoken champion for Human Rights, died March 31, 2026, at the age of 88.
“Those who, for instance, make claims about infant formula that intentionally undermine women’s confidence in breastfeeding are not to be regarded as clever entrepreneurs just doing their job, but as human rights violators of the worst kind.”
Stephen Lewis, speaking at the Montreal International Nutrition Congress, 1996. Quoted in Fighting an Old Battle in a New World – How IBFAN Monitors the Baby Food Market, Annelies Allain
Stephen Lewis, (1937-2026) was Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF from 1995 to 1999 and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa (2001–2006). He was married to another human rights activist,Michelle Landsberg, journalist with the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, They had three children: activist and administrator Ilana Naomi Landsberg-Lewis, casting director Jenny Leah Lewis, and current New Democratic Party leader Avi Lewis, who is married to writer Naomi Klein.[7]
Stephen Lewis dies just 2 days after watching son become NDP leader