Board Chairman

Dr. Olabisi O.J. Claudius-Cole

Dr. Olabisi O.J. Claudius-Cole is a distinguished Sierra Leonean medical practitioner, healthcare leader, and advocate for women’s health, gender equality, and community development, with more than three decades of experience in clinical medicine, healthcare leadership, reproductive health, and community advocacy. She is the Medical Director and Co-Owner of West End Clinic, where she has provided clinical and health-service leadership since 1989. Her extensive clinical experience encompasses general medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, surgery, family planning, and reproductive health. Dr. Claudius-Cole has played a significant national role in strengthening Sierra Leone’s clinical response to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). She has served as a national trainer in the Clinical Care of Sexual Assault Survivors, contributing to the capacity-building of hundreds of frontline healthcare professionals and other service providers across Sierra Leone. She is the President of the Sierra Leone Medical Women’s Association (SLMWA), where she has championed professional development, women’s health, and initiatives addressing the health and wellbeing of women and girls. Her leadership and governance experience also includes serving as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Rainbo Initiative, where she contributed to efforts addressing sexual and gender-based violence and supporting survivors. In recognition of her longstanding contribution to the prevention and response to gender-based violence in Sierra Leone, Dr. Claudius-Cole was awarded the Commander of the Order of the Rokel (COR) in 2019, one of Sierra Leone’s national honours. As Board Chair of the Safe Motherhood Initiative, she brings together her extensive clinical expertise, institutional leadership, and advocacy experience to advance the organisation’s mission of improving maternal and reproductive health, strengthening healthcare systems, empowering women and girls, and reducing preventable maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality in Sierra Leone and beyond. Dr. Claudius-Cole is deeply committed to building strategic partnerships and advancing practical, evidence-informed interventions that improve health outcomes, empower women, strengthen communities, and promote equitable access to quality healthcare. At the heart of her work is a firm belief that every woman has the right to experience pregnancy and childbirth safely, with dignity, compassion, and respect.