Toyin Saraki – Founder/President of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA)

As Founder/President of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), Toyin Ojora Saraki is a Nigerian advocate for women’s and children’s health and empowerment, with two decades of global advocacy covering reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, ending gender-based discrimination and violence, and improving education, socio-economic empowerment, and community livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa.

Saraki was appointed as a member of UN Women African Women’s Leadership Network (AWLN) in 2017 and serves on the Steering Council of African Women Leadership Network Nigeria. She is a patron of Women in Global Health Nigeria, and has served as the inaugural global goodwill ambassador for the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) 2014-2020.

Toyin serves as special adviser to the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) regional office for Africa (AFRO). She was named by Devex as UHC Global Champion and she is the Save the Children Newborn Health Champion for Nigeria.

Toyin was the inaugural board chair of ‘The White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria’ and is a Global Champion for the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. She was appointed as a fellow of the African Academy of Public Health in 2016.

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Saraki leads the Wellbeing Foundation Africa’s global advocacy and frontline programme implementation.

Under Toyin Saraki’s leadership, alongside its own endowment programmes, the WBFA has implemented several global donor programmes including the Mamacare+Nutrition Programme in partnership with UNFPA Nigeria, the emergency obstetrics and newborn care programme improving the availability and quality of maternity care in Kwara State, in partnership with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine’s Centre For Maternal and Newborn Health, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa’s WASH For Wellbeing programmes in health facilities, households and schools, and the Alive and Thrive Infant and Young Child Feeding programme in Lagos and Kaduna states in partnership with FHI360.

The Wellbeing Foundation Africa pioneered and remains an active member of the CSO core support committee of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health.
Toyin Saraki is a supporter of the Every Woman Every Child initiative of the United Nations Foundation’s Global Strategy for Women Children And Adolescents Health, and serves as a board observer to the WHO Partnership For Maternal Newborn and Child Health PMNCH.

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Under the leadership of Toyin Saraki, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa is in special consultative status to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations and is a member of the UN Global Compact.

Saraki serves as a director and board member of Seven-Up Nigeria Ltd, EDC Securities Ltd, Intertek Testing Services Ltd, and the Ojora Group of Companies.