Dr. (Mrs) Toyin Saraki, wife of the Senate President and President and Founder, Well-being Foundation Africa, has stated that Nigeria has one of the world’s lowest breastfeeding rates at 17 per cent.
Dr. Saraki made the disclosure in Abuja while
delivering the keynote address at a stakeholders meeting put together
by a pro-nutrition group, Civil Society-Scale-up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) to commemorate this year’s World’s Breastfeeding Week.
Appreciating CS-SUNN for its efforts towards
bridging the nutritional gap in the country, which she said has always
kept the government on its toes, Saraki urged all those who mean well
for the future of the country to join in the advocacy for early and
exclusive breastfeeding by spreading the education across.
“At Well-being Foundation Africa, nutrition
has been the central focus of our work. We collaborated with partners
at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2014 where we
launched the Global Breastfeeding Initiative, advocating increase in
early and exclusive breastfeeding around the world.
“I would like to stress here that
scientific evidence shows that early and exclusive breastfeeding confers
protective effect on the survival of an infant as it decreases the risk
of early life diseases. The practice is also known to help in
protection of women against chest and other forms of cancer.
“Our dear country Nigeria has one of the world’s lowest breastfeeding rates at 17 per cent,” she said.
Toyin Ojora-Saraki (born 6 September 1964) is a healthcare philanthropist and the Founder-President of Wellbeing Foundation Africa.
Early life and Education
Toyin Saraki had her elementary education in Lagos, Nigeria after which she went to the United Kingdom and attended Roedean School, Brighton. She then obtained her L.L.B degree from the London School of Oriental and African Studies and her L.L.M fromKing’s College London, both of the University of London. She returned to Nigeria and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989.
Charity and Philanthropy
As Founder-President of Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), Mrs Toyin Saraki is a prominent Nigerian philanthropist with two decades of advocacy covering maternal, newborn and child health; ending gender-based discrimination and violence; and improving education, socio-economic empowerment and community livelihoods in Africa. She is a huge advocate of the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in Nigeria, which are aimed at reducing the rate of maternal and infant mortality. She also launched a successful social media campaign through Wellbeing Foundation Africa in 2012 called #MaternalMonday to raise awareness and conversations around key issues in relation to maternal newborn and child health in Africa.
She contributed largely to the establishment of the Lifestream Charity in 1993 and is a global advocate of the UN’s Every Woman Every Child campaign. Toyin is on the board of the Global Foundation for the Elimination of Domestic Violence and the board of the Africa Justice Foundation.
Toyin Saraki is the Newborn Champion for Save the Children Nigeria and was the Inaugural Global Goodwill Ambassador to the International Confederation of Midwives in 2014.
Personal life
Toyin Saraki is Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBF Africa), a pan-African maternal health and wellbeing charity. WBF Africa has become one of the most influential and active organisations in the area of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), working across sectors to deliver innovative solutions such as its flagship WBFA IMNCH Personal Health Record© and the MamaKit. WBF Africa goes beyond aid; it is dedicated to advocacy and the formation of best practices in health, education, women’s empowerment and social welfare.
A qualified barrister, Toyin Saraki built a successful private sector career before dedicating the last 21 years to philanthropy. Toyin is a global advocate of the UNs’ Every Woman Every Child effort, acts as Board Chair of the White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria, Chair of the FIDA International Committee on Law Protecting the Rights of Children, and is Goodwill Ambassador of the Olave Baden-Powell Society (OB-PS), which supports the efforts of the World Association of Girls Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). She also sits on the boards of the Global Foundation for the Elimination of Domestic Violence and The Africa Justice Foundation.
Toyin is married to former Governor of Kwara State and Current President of the Senate of Nigeria, Senator Bukola Saraki with four children.
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