Marleen Temmerman MD, PhD, MPH, OB/GYN, DTM&H

Marleen Temmerman, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, is Director of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aga Khan University East Africa in Nairobi, and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair on Youth Leadership in Science, Health, Gender and Education. Previously she was Director, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization. Marleen is also the Founding Director of the International Centre of Reproductive Health at Ghent University, Belgium, with sister research organizations in Kenya and Mozambique, and a large global collaborative academic network of 27 universities globally. She has a strong academic and scientific background with over 500 publications and books in the area of women’s health and rights.

In 2007, Marleen was elected Senator in the Belgian Parliament where she was a member of the Commission on Social Affairs, and Chair of the Commission on Foreign Affairs. In that capacity, she was a member of the European Parliamentary Forum, and Chair of the HIV/AIDS Advisory Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. She served as a member of the independent Expert Review Group, convened by UN Secretary- General Ban-Ki Moon, to raise accountability in the Every Woman, Every Child platform, and was a contributor to the Global Strategy for Women's, Children’s and Adolescents' Health 2016–2030.

She brings academic, research, technical, political, governance, management and leadership skills to the table as well as diplomacy, advocacy, fundraising, training and clinical expertise. She has a strong track record of working with governments, multilateral organizations, academia, professional bodies, development agencies, private sector, consultancy agencies, civil society, and non-governmental and faith-based organizations.

Awards and honours

Honorary Fellow Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, February 2020
Honorary Fellow African Academy of Sciences, December 2018
Concurrent Professorship, Fudan University, May 2017
EDCTP Award for Outstanding Female Scientist, November 2016
Marie Popelin Award for Women’s Rights, a 5-yearly award established by the National Women’s Council Belgium, January 2016
Top 100 Women Leaders in Global Health, The Graduate Institute/Global Health Program, Switzerland, 2015
Honorary Professorship, National Institute Family Planning Research China, Beijing, October 2015
FIGO Distinguished Merit Award, Vancouver, September 2015
Gold Medal of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Arts, December 2014
Award for Free-thinking and Humanism by the Humanism Association Belgium, June 2013
Honorary Membership Award of the Club of Rome by H.R.H Prince Philippe of Belgium, June 2013
Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) - ‘Peace Women Award 2011’, Brussels, 12 December 2011
Honorary Doctorate, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, 21 September 2011
Honorary Doctorate, Faculty of Medicine, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, 25 May 2011
BMJ Lifetime Achievement Award 2010, London, March 2010
FIGO Award in recognition of Women Obstetricians-Gynaecologists, Cape Town, October 2009