Anita Kemi DaSilva is a specialist Obstetrician and Gynecologist with a medical background that extends to Public Health. She is also Public Health physician and an academician who is currently undergoing a PhD in Gender based Violence. As a qualified physician with over 15 years’ experience in private practice, she dedicates her time addressing the needs of girls and women.
Dr. DaSilva is also the founder of the Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), a non-profit organization that successfully tackles the issues of gender based violence, rape and trafficking of young girls and women in communities across Nigeria.
Dr. DaSilva graduated from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos and completed her postgraduate training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Howard University, Washington DC. She received her Master’s degree in Public Health from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. She has expanded her expertise beyond the field of Obstetrics & Gynecology with her participation in post-graduate medical courses in various specialties, and is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos.
Dr. DaSilva is currently enrolled in a PhD Degree program in Gender based Violence; Public Health & Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom.
She is a member of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the American Medical Association, Medical Women Association of Nigeria, the Association of Public Health Physicians Nigeria and the Faculty of Public Health; UK. She is also a member of the Institute of Directors, Nigeria.
Notable awards and recognition include WIMBIZ top 100 Most Influential Women in 2017, Leading Ladies Africa – 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 Africa Women in Development; she was also recognised as a CNN COVID Heroes & Newsmaker -The African Edition.
Dr. DaSilva is a strong advocate of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls and is known for her unmitigated passion for women’s rights which has shaped her life and has led to her establishing WARIF. The Foundation is one of the nation’s foremost anti sexual violence organizations that raises awareness and addresses the prevalence of rape and gender based violence in Nigeria through the development and implementation of a series of initiatives, targeting both the intervention/treatment of affected girls and women, as well as providing effective preventive measures in reducing this problem. She believes that it is our primary social responsibility, to ensure that globally, all young girls and women live in a society free of rape and sexual violence.