UNITED NATIONS — Fashion designer and AIDS activist Kenneth Cole was named an international goodwill ambassador Tuesday by the head of the U.N.’s AIDS-fighting organization.

The appointment by UNAIDS chief Michel Sidibe came on the eve of the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level meeting on ending AIDS on Wednesday through Friday.

“AIDS can be ended as a public health crisis if the resources are available”

Cole told reporters at a news conference at U.N. headquarters he hopes to combine his United Nations work with his work at The Foundation for AIDS Research, known as amfAR, and its goal of finding a cure for the disease by 2020.