Nigerian launch event UNESCO Chair on Global Health & Education – resources available

Yetunde O. John-Akinola is a senior lecturer and researcher at the Department of Health Promotion and Education, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. She is the National representative of Nigeria of the UNESCO Chair on Global Health & Education. She has more than fifteen years’ experience as a researcher working with both non-governmental and academic research groups. She has been involved in various researches including school health, child and adolescent health, NCDs prevention, HIV/AIDS and women’s health. Her focus encompasses child participation in the research process and children’s participation in school, health behaviour of adolescents and young people, adolescent and young people’s health and wellbeing and parents’ participation in school. 

Goof Buijs is the manager of the UNESCO Chair on Global Health & Education. After finishing his Master study in Human Nutrition his first job was teaching health science at the Amsterdam teacher trainer institute. At the Netherlands Institute for Health Promotion NIGZ he specialized in school health promotion, by introducing the national health promoting school programme in the Netherlands and leading several European projects including managing the Schools for Health in Europe (SHE) network from 2007 until 2017. His specialisation is bringing health and education sectors together. He is an experienced networker, expert in co-creation, trainer, and organizer of local and global events. He supports cooperation among people, focusing on everyone’s talents and uniqueness. He is an environmental activist for most of his life.

Yetunde O. John-Akinola is a senior lecturer and researcher at the Department of Health Promotion and Education, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. She is the National representative of Nigeria of the UNESCO Chair on Global Health & Education. She has more than fifteen years’ experience as a researcher working with both non-governmental and academic research groups. She has been involved in various researches including school health, child and adolescent health, NCDs prevention, HIV/AIDS and women’s health. Her focus encompasses child participation in the research process and children’s participation in school, health behaviour of adolescents and young people, adolescent and young people’s health and wellbeing and parents’ participation in school. 

Tomiwa Akinsanya is a results-driven project manager and digital health professional with nearly a decade of experience leveraging digital technologies and an applied behavioral science approach to improve health outcomes for children, young people, and mothers across Sub-Saharan Africa. With a Master’s degree in Public Health, she has led and delivered high-impact digital health initiatives that strengthen access, financing, and service delivery in underserved settings. Tomiwa was an active member of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education (GHE) Young Professionals Editorial Group, contributing to the writing committee for the UNESCO Chair publication, Nothing About Them Without Them: Children and Young People’s Participation in Health Promotion – A Global Collection of Case Studies. She currently serves as the youth representative on the UNESCO Chair GHE GPOD Young Professionals Advisory Board and the UNESCO Chair GHE Youth Panel.

Halimat Omowumi Olaniyan’s experience spans public health, youth development, disability inclusion, digital health and social impact, with work across academic institutions, civil society organisations, communities and youth-led networks. Program and project management professional with experience coordinating research, capacity-building, and community-based projects across Nigeria. Skilled in managing project activities and teams, coordinating stakeholder consultations and meetings, organizing training and convenings, supporting grant development, preparing financial and progress reports, and translating evidence into publications, presentations, and other knowledge products. Halimat was an active member of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education (GHE) Young Professionals Editorial Group, contributing to the writing committee for the UNESCO Chair publication, Nothing About Them Without Them: Children and Young People’s Participation in Health Promotion – A Global Collection of Case Studies. She currently serves as youth representative on the UNESCO Chair GHE Youth Panel.

Dr. Adesola Olumide is a Researcher and Consultant Community Physician at the Institute of Child Health (ICH), University of Ibadan and University College Hospital, Nigeria. She is the International Association of Adolescent Health (IAAH) Vice President for the Sub-Sahara Africa Region and a member of the Steering Committee of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education. Adesola coordinated the Adolescent Health component of the MPH programme in Child and Adolescent Health (CAH) run by ICH from 2008 to 2017. From 2014 to 2017, she coordinated the ICH Infant Welfare/ Well-child, and was Acting Director of the Institute from 2017 – 2019. Over the course of her career, Adesola has served as investigator on a number of projects. Currently, she is the Director of the College of Medicine, Research and Innovation Management (CRIM) unit. She is also the current Secretary General for the Society for Adolescent and Young People’s Health in Nigeria (SAYPHIN). She has a keen interest in mentoring of junior colleagues and her research interests have expanded to include utilization of research findings to develop and implement evidence-based interventions to address problems of adolescents and young people.

Yetunde Adenike Oguntokun is Principal Partner at Behaviour Modification Media. She holds a Master’s degree in Psychology, with specialised training in Clinical Psychology, and has further training in Health Promotion through various courses and workshops. She is a creative health communicator who integrates her background in behavioural health with storytelling to translate complex health concepts into clear, engaging, and relatable messages. Her work focuses on using innovative, story-driven approaches to strengthen health awareness, support behaviour change, and enhance community engagement in public health. She is a member of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education, Colostrum International Breastfeeding NGO, International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE), Society for Health Communication, and the Society for Theory and Research on Salutogenesis (STARS).