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Naana Otoo-Oyortey

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Naana Otoo-Oyortey
in 2019
Alma materUniversity of Sussex
Employer(s)International Planned Parenthood Federation
Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development
Known forActivism, campaigning against FGM

Naana Otoo-Oyortey is a Ghanaian social activist, the executive director of the Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development.

Early life and education

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Otoo-Oyortey was born in Ghana.[1] She completed a master's of philosophy at the University of Sussex.[2] She was a member of the Institute of Development Studies,[3] where she worked on gender issues in Ghana.[4]

Career

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Otoo-Oyortey worked at the International Planned Parenthood Federation,[5] where she investigated child marriage and poverty.[6] She believes that to achieve gender equality the world must address violence against women and the socio-cultural norms that accept this behaviour.[7] She is concerned that domestic violence results in women not protecting themselves from sexually transmitted infections.[5]

Otoo-Oyortey joined the African Diaspora women-led nonprofit Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development (FORWARD) in 1998,[8][9] invited by the founder, Efua Dorkenoo. FORWARD is the lead agency working to end female genital mutilation (FGM) in the UK.[8] She is now executive director of the organization, and has led training initiatives for in Swahili and English for girls to become innovators against gender-based violence.[10] With FORWARD Otoo-Oyortey has conducted an ethnographic study into the experiences of people affected by FGM.[11] In 2009 Otoo-Oyortey was honoured in the 2008 Birthday Honours for "services to Human Rights Issues for Women".[12]

Launch of the annual report of Women's Participation in Decision-Making & Leadership decade. With Justina Mutale, Rainatou Sow, Naana Otoo-Oyortey and Dr Anouka van Eerdewijk

In 2014 Otoo-Oyortey gave a TEDx talk about women's rights and FGM.[13] That year she was included in the Evening Standard's list of London's most influential people.[14] She was part of the London Girl Summit in 2014, inviting two young African campaigners who are fighting to end child marriage in Ethiopia and Tanzania.[15] She joined the UCLH to open the FGM paediatric clinic.[16] In 2016 FORWARD was part of an end FGM march in Bristol, which Otoo-Oyortey described as a "quiet revolution".[17]

She has discussed her campaigning on Woman's Hour and at the International Observatory of Human Rights.[18][19] She is the President of the Board of the European End FGM Network and on the Board of Trustees of ACORD.[20][21]

References

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  1. ^ Julios, Christina (2018-09-26). Female Genital Mutilation and Social Media. Routledge. ISBN 9781351717618.
  2. ^ "Naana Otoo-Oyortey". CFFP. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  3. ^ "Notable alumni". www.ids.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  4. ^ Baden, Sally (1994). Background paper on gender issues in Ghana : report prepared for the west and north Africa Department, Department for Overseas Development (DFID), UK. Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. OCLC 50663388.
  5. ^ a b "Contraception affects women's lives". FHI 360. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  6. ^ "Early marriage and poverty: exploring links for policy and programme development. | POPLINE.org". www.popline.org. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  7. ^ "How to re-ignite real-world debates in the classroom - starting with the development gap". Tes. 2017-01-20. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  8. ^ a b "Naana Otoo-Oyortey Mbe". EIGE. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  9. ^ "Meet the FORWARD team". FORWARD. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  10. ^ Dada, Sistersact (2018-07-13). "10 minutes with Naana Otoo-Oyortey MBE". tuwezeshedada. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  11. ^ "FGM is always with us; Experiences, Perceptions and Beliefs of Women Affected by Female Genital Mutilation in London" (PDF). Options. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  12. ^ "Queen's Birthday Honours: Full list". The Independent. 2008-06-13. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  13. ^ TEDx Talks, Mind the gender gap | Naana Otoo-Oyortey | TEDxEustonSalon, retrieved 2019-02-01
  14. ^ "The 1000: London's most influential people 2014 - Campaigners". Evening Standard. 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  15. ^ Otoo-Oyortey, Naana (2014-07-30). "Where were the grassroots voices at the Girl Summit?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  16. ^ "Community launch for FGM paediatric clinic". www.uclh.nhs.uk. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  17. ^ "Bristol youth march against FGM". the Guardian. 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  18. ^ "Campaign Against FGM". International Observatory of Human Rights. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  19. ^ "Sheryl Crow; FGM; Eileen Atkins, Woman's Hour - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  20. ^ "Conference: Gender-related Vulnerabilities in the EU Asylum Procedures: Spotlight on FGM". Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies. 2016-11-08. Archived from the original on 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  21. ^ "ACORD | About us > Governance". www.acordinternational.org. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
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