Ladies and Gentlemen, let me begin by saying welcome and thank you for attending this 8th  African Conference on Sexual Health and Rights here in Johannesburg. It is a pleasure to be here in front of you today to share our mutual values, interests and objectives in the field of sexual and reproductive health of women and girls across Africa. 

My name is Toyin Saraki, and I am the Founder and President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, an Africa-focused charity that provides services in reproductive and maternal health to those in need. Inspired by my own personal tragedy, the Wellbeing Foundation was created to help other women like myself during the most vulnerable and critical times in their lives. 

In carrying out that mission, the highly commendable leadership of Dr Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA, and the work carried out by Dr Keita, as Resident Representative of UNFPA in Nigeria, and her team has been an inspiration. 

South Africa, much like my native Nigeria, has made huge advancements in sexual and reproductive health over the past decade, a trend that resonates widely across our beloved continent. Maternal mortality has been slashed, thanks to improved technology, medicine and a renewed commitment to tackling this burden that unnecessarily inflicts individuals, communities and societies. Yet there is still much work to be done, and despite vast improvements, Africa continues to have the worst maternal health outcomes of any continent. Nigeria alone accounts for 13% of maternal deaths globally. It is for this reason that events like this remain absolutely critical, to keep the issue alive and to force people to listen and to act. 

Sexual and reproductive health means more than just slashing maternal mortality. It means liberating women and girls from the constraints of family planning, child birth, and the other gender specific burdens that women face globally. Constraints that so often marginalise women and their individual struggles, and consolidate the gender divide that we are working so tirelessly to close. Sexual and reproductive health is about education, awareness, and choice: the choice to have children in clean and safe conditions. The choice to space children, so that resources can be distributed to maximise the opportunities of each child. The choice to be properly informed and empowered in the decision-making process that surrounds these issues is important for the young, for prevention of catastrophe is better than cure. 

My organisation, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, recognises the importance of sexual and reproductive health, and to be around such likeminded people as I am today gives me great assurance that together we can tackle and overcome the deficits in the area of healthcare that is prevalent across the continent. The WBFA runs a range of programmes across Nigeria that serve women in areas of sexual and reproductive health. Our Mamacare classes educate expectant mothers on child care, nutrition, and the birthing process, reducing the risk of complications and providing support to mothers who lack support elsewhere. The WBFA is also involved in training midwives – who form an essential part of any safe birth, as well as providing basic perinatal care – across the country. Our trained midwives have in turn have gone on the serve hundreds of thousands of women. The WBFA is also driving universal health coverage, funding health insurance for 5,000 Nigerians annually. Universal health coverage is the cornerstone to better reproductive and sexual healthcare, and deserves greater prioritisation at national, regional and global levels. It is my belief and hope that it can be achieved in a matter of years around the world, and we must make this happen. 

Looking at the programme for the days ahead of us, I can see that this conference will undoubtedly be informative and conducive to a better future for women and girls across the continent. Alongside the aforementioned representation from UNFPA, I am delighted that Phumzile Mlamdo Ngcuka, from UN Women, is attending – UN Women and UNFPA are both critical organisations in the pursuit of reproductive and sexual rights for women around the world, and I support their endeavours wholeheartedly. 

Over the course of the next few days I hope to learn, and to share ideas and thoughts on how to progress the agenda of improved sexual and reproductive health, and it is my firm belief that together we will challenge and overcome sexual health deficits in Africa, once and for all. 

Thank you.