Women in Global Health Nigeria inducts fellows in Abuja
Women in Global Health Nigeria has inducted 24 women into the inaugural cohort of its Empower Health Fellowship, a leadership programme designed to strengthen women’s participation and influence in Nigeria’s health sector.
The induction ceremony held in Abuja marked the completion of a six-month fellowship that drew participants from diverse professional backgrounds, including medicine, veterinary science, journalism and public health.
The co-founder and chapter lead of Women in Global Health in Nigeria, Dr Peju Adeniran, said the fellowship was created to address the underrepresentation of women in health leadership and policy spaces.
She said the fellowship was an avenue to build the capacity and confidence of women to be able to make an impact in society.
The senior country director, Pathfinder International Nigeria, Dr Amina Dorayi, in her keynote address, noted that excluding women from decision-making limited the health sector’s capacity, adding that women constitute a significant portion of the workforce but remain largely absent from top leadership roles.
She charged the fellows to speak out when systems resist change, uphold integrity in leadership and promote gender equity as a pathway to achieving health equity.
One of the inductees, Dr Akanbi-Hakeem Bolanle, a veterinarian, said the fellowship equipped her to integrate animal, human and environmental health in empowering women, particularly those engaged in agriculture and livestock production.
She explained that her work would focus on educating women on disease prevention, income generation and mental wellbeing through improved animal health practices.
Another fellow, Bilkis Abduraheem Lawal, a journalist in the social media advocacy stream, said the programme strengthened her capacity to advocate maternal and child health using indigenous languages to reach underserved communities.
She added that the fellowship enhanced her skills in digital advocacy, mentorship and inclusive networking to influence health-related decisions affecting women and children.
