Team Member

Professor Friday Okonofua is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Centre Leader of the African Centre of Excellence in Reproductive Health (CERHI), and the Coordinator of the World Bank projects at the University of Benin. He was pioneer Vice-Chancellor of the first University of Medical Sciences, in Ondo City, Ondo State of Nigeria.  He is a Fellow (ed audem) of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Nigerian Academy of Science, the African Academy of Sciences, the Takemi Fellowship of Harvard University, and the Nigerian Academy of Medicine.  He has served as the Executive Director of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics and as Honorary Adviser on Health to President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria. He currently serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Academy of Science, and the Secretary General of the African Academy of Sciences. Professor Okonofua is a global champion in sexual and reproductive health and rights and women’s health, a discipline where he has published more than 380 journal articles, 4 books, 26 book chapters, 22 monographs. He has served as Program officer at the Ford Foundation, member of the international Advisory Board of the Macarthur Foundation, co-chair of Harvard University’s research group on eliminating malaria in Africa, and member of the High level ICPD Advisory Group of the UNFPA. He currently serves as a member of the global advisory board of the UNFPA. He is the founder of the Women’s Health and Action Research Centre (WHARC), one of Nigeria’s most pre-eminent non-governmental organizations, co-chair of Nigeria’s reproductive health working group, and technical expert to many national and international NGOs, international partners, and governmental bodies on sexual and reproductive health and rights. He is a member of the editorial board of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and an editorial board member and reviewer to several international journals He is the founding editor of the African Journal of Reproductive Health, that was voted the best journal in Nigeria by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in 2005 “that meets international standards”. The journal is now published monthly and is now ranked as one of the leading journals in reproductive medicine in Africa and worldwide.