Anita Kemi DaSilva-Ibru is a specialist healthcare physician who is dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls through medical practice, social activism and wider public advocacy against gender-based violence. Professionally, Dr DaSilva-Ibru is a consultant specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, as well as a public health physician, with over 20 years’ experience in private practice.
She is also the founder of the Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), a non-profit organization that addresses the prevalence of gender-based violence, rape and the trafficking of young girls and women across Nigeria. Through this work, Dr. DaSilva-Ibru has become a recognized thought leader in the gender space and in field of women’s health internationally; she is a member of the distinguished 2024 Forbes 50 over 50 Europe, Middle East & Africa( EMEA) List and her 2020 TED talk on the ‘shadow pandemic’ has gained a global audience.
Dr DaSilva-Ibru’s medical and academic career has spanned across three decades and three continents. She graduated from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos before completing her postgraduate training in OBGYN at Howard University, Washington DC and obtaining a
master’s from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. She has also taken other postgraduate medical courses in various specialties, and is an alumna of the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos. She is currently undertaking a PhD in gender-based violence at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
WARIF is one of Nigeria’s foremost organizations tackling sexual violence. In addition to drawing the world’s attention to rape and gender-based violence, WARIF takes a holistic and survivor- centered approach to helping affected girls and women, as well as launching preventative initiatives to successfully tackle the issue’s root causes. Dr DaSilva-Ibru’s goal is to bring about a world in which all women and girls can live their lives free from gender-based violence.
Dr DaSilva-Ibru’s notable awards include WIMBIZ’s ‘Top 100 Most Influential Women’ in 2017, Leading Ladies Africa’s ‘100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria’ 2018, Orange Active Citizen, 2017, 25 People Pioneers Brands, International Women’s Day 2018, recognition by British Council in Nigeria, Exceptional Women Past and Present, Woman of the Year 2019, Her Network. Nominated in 2020 as one of the 50 African Women in Development, she was also recognized as a CNN COVID Heroes & Newsmaker and received an Award of Excellence by National Council of Women Affairs, Nigeria in 2022.
In 2023, Dr. DaSilva was the recipient of the Gold Award for Thought Leader of the Year and the Silver Award for Women Changing the World Category by the Women Changing the World Organization. More recently, Dr. Dasilva-Ibru has been recognized on the 2024 Forbes 50 over 50 Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) List.
Her professional memberships include the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the American Medical Association, Medical Women Association of Nigeria, the Association of Public Health Physicians Nigeria, the Faculty of Public Health, UK and the American Public Health Association.
She is also a member of the Institute of Directors, Nigeria.
