"Women must take part in creating policies and legislation that reflect the society they want to live in"

Toyin Ojora Saraki

A brief introduction

Global advocate for women’s and children’s health and empowerment

 

As Founder-President of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki is a global advocate for women’s and children’s health and empowerment, with two decades of 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.

Mrs Saraki is the Emeritus Global Goodwill Ambassador for the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM); special adviser to the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Africa (AFRO), was named by Devex as UHC Global Champion, is the Save the Children Newborn Health Champion for Nigeria; and is a Global Champion for the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood

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Advocacy in Action

SPEECH FROM April 21st, 2026

H.E. Toyin Ojora Saraki, Founder-President, Wellbeing Foundation Africa Published in commemoration of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, 6 April 2026 Theme – Sport: Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers  On 6 April each year, the world pauses to acknowledge a truth that many communities already know, which is that sport, at its finest, […]

SPEECH FROM December 17th, 2025

A Quiet Revolution in Care: WASH as the Foundation of Health System Quality By: H.E. Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki & John Oldfield There is an invisibly simple way to assess whether a health system is structurally capable of delivering safe care, particularly at the moment when life is most vulnerable, and it is not found […]

SPEECH FROM December 10th, 2025

On Human Rights Day 2025, the world reasserts a continued promise that human rights are the everyday essentials of a life lived in freedom and dignity. Seventy-seven years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed as a “common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations,” a global blueprint for laws and […]

As the @WHO #WorldImmunizationWeek begins today under the theme #ForEveryGeneration, Vaccines Work, I welcome the precision of a framing that restates both the scientific record on vaccines and the coverage gaps still to be closed.

Over the last fifty years, vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives, equivalent to six lives every minute, every day, for five decades, and have driven a 40% improvement in infant survival globally. Yet in 2024, 20 million children still missed at least one vaccine dose, of whom 14.3 million received none at all, and Nigeria now carries the highest burden on the African continent, with over 2.1 million zero-dose children accounting for 14.7% of the world`s unvaccinated infants.

Immunisation has long been embedded within my @WellbeingAfrica Foundation`s frontline programming, with our #MamaCare360 Antenatal and Postnatal Education Programme integrating structured immunisation health education into its curriculum, and with our midwives and nurses delivering routine childhood immunisation counselling, explaining vaccines including the HPV vaccination in accessible, localised terms to mothers, and supporting the completion of adolescent girls` vaccination in line with the WHO 90-70-90 cervical cancer elimination targets, linking maternal engagement to the wider continuum of primary health care. As the Inaugural @WHOFoundation Ambassador for Global Health and Special Adviser to the Independent Advisory Group of @WHO_Africa, I have consistently positioned community-trusted health workers as the indispensable last mile of any immunisation system.

As the global community reaches the mid-term review of the Immunization Agenda 2030, the call to build trust, share accurate information, and strengthen confidence must be met with equal investment in the workers who deliver that trust at household and facility level. This Frontline Friday, I pay tribute to the midwives, nurses, doctors, community health workers, and vaccinators across Nigeria and the continent who sustain routine immunisation coverage in every community they serve. For every generation, vaccines work. For every generation, you have worked.

#FrontlineFriday
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I was honoured to accept the invitation of Deputy High Commissioner Mr Jonny Baxter @UKinNigeria and Chief Commercial Officer of @British_Airways Mr Colm Lacy to celebrate ninety extraordinary years of British Airways air service to Nigeria, held at the British Residence, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Since 1936, British Airways has carried within its wings every dimension of the human story that binds our two great nations, the scholar departing towards a new horizon, the diplomat arriving with purpose, the entrepreneur connecting markets across continents, and the family crossing thousands of miles simply to hold one another again. BA has also been the thread running through so much of the work I hold most dear, carrying the mission of maternal, newborn and child health to the partners, communities, and conversations that matter most.

My warmest congratulations to British Airways and the British High Commission in Nigeria on nine decades of faithful connection. Here’s to the skies that have carried us forward, and to all that is still to come!

#BA90
#BritishAirwaysNigeria
#UKinNigeria
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This week, I was delighted to join family and friends in celebrating the traditional wedding ceremony of Joanna Adejoke Ivie and Toluwanimi Ayobami, as they began a new chapter together in faith, love, and shared devotion.

It was a beautiful occasion, marked by grace, joy, and the strength of family, reminding us that marriage is both a sacred union and a foundation upon which future generations are built.

I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the MacGregor and Oyefeso families, and pray that Joanna and Tolu`s home will be blessed with peace, prosperity, and abiding love.
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It is with sincere gratitude that I received Mr @AkbarAliShah, General Manager of Reckitt Sub-Saharan Africa and Chief Executive Officer of @ReckittNigeria, together with Mrs Cassandra Uzo-Ogbugh, Head of External Affairs, Media and Partnerships, ReckittSSA, and their delegation, at the @WellbeingAfrica Foundation Lagos Office, where they graciously extended their condolences on the passing of my beloved father, H.R.H. Otunba Adekunle Ojora, O.F.R., C.O.N., J.P., the Otunba of Lagos and Lisa of Ife.

In the spirit of purposeful impact that has so meaningfully characterised our shared journey, we turned, in reflection, to the living expression of our collaboration, reviewing the remarkable progress of the WBFA @DettolNigeria Hygiene Quest Programme and Curricula under Reckitt’s #CleanNaija Commitment, alongside the advancement of Project Oscar – Light for Life, our joint Neonatal Jaundice Screening, Treatment, and Kernicterus Prevention Programme.

To Mr Shah, Mrs Uzo-Ogbugh, and the entire @ThisIsReckitt organisation, I extend my appreciation for your grace in sorrow and your continued partnership in purpose, as together we continue to advance a Nigeria in which hygiene is the foundation for healthy beginnings, and dignified care is a fundamental right secured for all.

#WBFADHQ
#ProjectOscar
#WellbeingForAll
#MaternalMonday
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“Keep no malice.
Elevate and inspire.
Stand in purpose.
Stay in grace.

Àlàáfíà ni agbára—peace is strength.”

Wishing everyone a peaceful and serene weekend.

#GratefulForHisGrace #WellbeingForAll
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Today we hold in remembrance Senator Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim, PhD, FCIB, two years since his passing, a distinguished senator who served the people of Kwara South with honour and purpose in the 8th National Assembly.

As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions and founder of the Rafiu Ibrahim Foundation, his dedication to the people of Kwara South was felt in the legislation he championed and the scholarships and opportunities he made possible through a lifetime of purposeful public service.

A loyal friend to my dear husband @BukolaSaraki and I, his absence continues to be felt by all who had the privilege of knowing him. May Almighty God grant him the highest place in Aljannah Firdaus and keep his beloved family under His grace and protection always. Ameen.
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Last night, I joined the Ogbue and Elumelu families for the Night of Tributes in honour of the late Chief Sir Israel Chinwuba Ogbue, former Chairman of UBA Plc and pioneer executive of NICON, who transitioned to eternal glory on 18th February 2026, his 99th birthday.

Born in Onicha-Olona, Delta State, Chief Ogbue built a distinguished career across Nigeria’s most respected financial and public institutions. Through nearly a century of history and transformation, he remained a pillar of integrity, wisdom, and grace.

To his beloved wife, his daughter Dr. Awele Elumelu, the Ogbue family, and all who were fortunate to know him, may his memory be your continued strength, and may Almighty God receive him with open arms. Amen.

#NightOfTributes
#ChiefSirIsraelOgbue
#ALifeWellLived
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Recognising that neonatal jaundice detection has not always been designed with darker skin tones in mind, contributing to delayed diagnosis and inequitable outcomes for Black newborns, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa is advancing a health systems strengthening response through Project Oscar – Light For Life, a Neonatal Jaundice Screening, Treatment, and Kernicterus Prevention Programme, reflecting the call of #BlackMaternalHealthWeek 2026 to address systemic blind spots from the very first breath, as I discussed on the @EveryPregnancy #BornInto podcast, highlighting how visual assessment standards continue to miss jaundice in darker-skinned infants.

Rooted in the lived experience and advocacy of @Oscar.Anderson.7967 MBE, supported by our #WBFA social impact partners @ThisIsReckitt, and delivered in partnership with @SCIDaR Solina Centre for International Development & Research, @NEST360Org, and the Lagos State Ministry of Health @LagosHealth and Lagos State Government @LagosStateGovt, Project Oscar – Light For Life strengthens early identification, timely treatment, and referral systems within routine newborn care, representing Nigeria’s first initiative of its kind.

Our impact to date in March 2026
💡 9,718 newborns screened across participating facilities
💡 1,049 newborns identified with elevated bilirubin levels
💡 97.1 per cent of identified cases treated
💡 0 cases of kernicterus recorded among screened infants
💡 342 healthcare workers trained

Through the deployment of transcutaneous bilirubinometers, expansion of phototherapy access, and targeted frontline workforce training, Project Oscar – Light For Life is embedding equitable, evidence-based neonatal jaundice screening within essential newborn care, aligned with guidance from the World Health Organization @WHO.

With growing global collaboration, including innovation partners such as @Picterus_Jaundice, our work is advancing scalable, non-invasive solutions that improve diagnostic accuracy across all populations and extend access to undersupported communities, because every newborn deserves the opportunity to survive and thrive without preventable harm.

#ProjectOscar
#LightForLife
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It was a distinct honour to join the families of the late Mr. Moses Ogah Owoicho and the late Mr. Isa Ochokwunu, both of Iga-Okpaya in Apa Local Government Area of Benue State, at the wedding ceremony of the gallant groom, Sunday Ohepo Ogah, and his beautiful bride, Happiness Isah.

The solemn and joyful Nuptial Mass, held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Nyanya, Karu, Abuja, was a beautiful celebration of faith, prayer, and thanksgiving as the couple entered into the sacred covenant of marriage.

I was also pleased to co-chair the wedding reception at the DEPOWA Conference Hall, Mogadishu Cantonment, Abacha Barracks, Abuja, alongside the Chairman, ACG Ada Salefu Odaudu, Assistant Comptroller General of Customs (Rtd).

I wish Sunday and Happiness a lifetime richly blessed with love, peace, and enduring joy as they begin their journey together in holy matrimony. Amen.

#GratefulForHisGrace
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It was a pleasure to pay a courtesy call on His Royal Majesty, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, Kusenla III, @HRMSAElegushi, in celebration of his 50th birthday and Golden Jubilee yesterday.

On this significant occasion, I reflected on a reign defined by thoughtful leadership and a commitment to community advancement. I commend His Royal Majesty’s dedication to inclusive development and to strengthening the social and cultural fabric of Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom.

May this Golden Jubilee year be marked by renewed purpose and abundant blessings.
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