One Health and Development Initiative (OHDI)

OUR STORY.

HOW WE STARTED

Our History

One Health and Development Initiative (OHDI) started initially in February 2016 as a blog called ‘MyAnimal,MyHealth’ by Dr. Kikiope Oluwarore, a veterinarian and One Health professional. The MyAnimal,MyHealth blog provided and promoted news and information on related topics of animal and public health.

As the blog gained traction and publicity, the work expanded to taking up major health journalism projects that promoted, investigated, reported, and promoted public education and advocacy on correlated issues of human and animal health.

Notable examples of this work included the Project Abattoir Nigeria (2017) funded by Code4Africa’s ImpactAFRICA program which produced the published story series – Something Dreadful is happening at Ibadan AbattoirFor the love of meat, You must read this, and Unhealthy Abattoirs in Nigeria, recommendations and solutions; and Project Fish and Oceans (2018) supported by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN) which produced the story Nigeria: Importing fish amidst abundant ocean resources; the paradox of a nation. 

OHDI staff and partners at an advocacy outreach on AMR

This build-up of impact projects propelled a scale-up into the nonprofit organization that it is today.

On 21 June 2019, OHDI was institutionalized and officially registered at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with registration number – CAC/IT/NO 130955. In addition to being institutionalized, OHDI’s vision further accommodate all tenets of One Health, addressing all aspects of human, animal and environmental, and ecosystem health. 

The organization currently implements local, pan-African and international programs, research and interventions and also provides consultancy services in the related areas of One Health operationalization and sustainable development


Meet the Founder

Dr. Kikiope Oluwarore

Dr. Kikiope Oluwarore is a veterinarian with over 14 years of experience in One Health operationalization across cross-cutting fields – managing relevant programs, research, and nonprofits, locally and internationally. She bagged her DVM degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and completed her M.Sc. degree in Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

She has consulted for institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO), International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), African Union-Inter African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), Animal Advocacy Africa (AAA), and Africa Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW), among others. 

Her One Health skills and expertise span across multiple sectors including global health security, biosecurity, health systems strengthening, AMR, climate change, conservation, animal welfare integration and advisory for sustainable food systems.

Dr. Kikiope Oluwarore_Executive Director (1) (1)

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