Friday Okonofua is a professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, with sub-specialization in sexual and reproductive health at the University of Benin in Nigeria. He graduated as a medical doctor from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, and has a doctorate in Global Public Health from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. He is a Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons, the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, the Takemi Program in International Health at Harvard University, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Nigerian Academy of Science and the African Academy of Sciences. 

Professor Okonofua attended the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, where he presented papers from his research on harmful experiences of female genital mutilation, unsafe abortion and infertility, which contributed to shaping recommendations for action. He founded the Women’s Health and Action Research Centre (WHARC) in 1994 and the African Journal of Reproductive Health in 1997, now two leading African institutions devoted to promoting the agenda of the International Conference on Population and Development.

Professor Okonofua has been Honourary Adviser on Health to President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria; Executive Director of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO); a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation; and the pioneer Vice-Chancellor at the University of Medical Sciences in Ondo State. He is a reviewer to 20 international journals, including the BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, where he currently serves as a member of the International Advisory Board.