Naana Otoo-Oyortey is the Executive Director of FORWARD, the premier African diaspora women’s rights organisation in the UK, working to end multiple forms of violence against women and girls, including female genital mutilation (FGM). For over 40 years, Naana has continued to champion social justice, promoting gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights for African women and girls. She is a passionate advocate for ending child marriage, child motherhood, and nurturing young women’s leadership development and wellbeing.

Naana was born in Ghana, graduated from the University of Ghana, and holds an MPhil in Development Studies from Sussex University. She received her MBE in 2009 from the Queen for her work on the human rights of women and girls. She previously served on a number of development organization boards and is co-founder of the End FGM European Network, based in Brussels.