Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund
On 1 January 2011, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin became the fourth Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. Before this appointment, Dr. Osotimehin was Nigeria’s Minister of Health. Prior to that, he was Director-General of Nigeria’s National Agency for the Control of AIDS, which coordinates HIV and AIDS work in a country of more than 150 million people. Dr. Osotimehin qualified as a doctor from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1972, and went to the University of Birmingham, England, and got a doctorate in medicine in 1979. He was appointed Professor at the University of Ibadan in 1980 and headed the Department of Clinical Pathology before being elected Provost of the College of Medicine in 1990. Years later, he served in several organizations, including as Chair of the National Action Committee on AIDS, from 2002 to 2007. The Executive Director has participated in the Cairo Population Conference, Beijing Women’s Conference and United Nations special sessions on AIDS. Dr. Osotimehin received the Nigerian national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in December 2005. His interests include youth and gender, within the context of reproductive health and rights. He is married and has five children.
