France first lady joins fight against AIDS

France's first lady Carla Bruni- Sarkozy will act as a goodwill ambassador for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, officials announced on Thursday.

The first lady will work on the protection of mothers and children against AIDS. She will give more details about her new role at a news conference on Monday with the fund's executive director Michel Kazatchkine, the French Presidency said.

Bruni-Sarkozy married French President Nicolas Sarkozy in February less than three months after they met. She always says she wants to use her powerful position to advance a worthy global cause.

Based in Geneva, the fund is an international public-private financial institution, overseeing hundreds of programmes in 136 countries through public-private partnerships that have raised more than 11 billion U.S. dollars.