Westminster’s Public Health MSc alumnus Professor Henry Uro-Chukwu was recently appointed as the African Continental Medical Director (ACMD) for the International Parliament for Safety, Peace and Justice (IPSPJ) in Africa. The IPSPJ was founded to defend peace of individuals around the world and for security in every nation.
Henry’s certificate of appointment and official status of recognition took effect on 30 September, and was signed by the World President of IPSPJ, His Excellency Cardinal Professor Esapa Sona Joseph Dominion and IPSPJ’s World Administrator, Honourary Ambassador Miss Canungnuch Koonsri JP.
He graduated from the University of Westminster’s Public Health MSc course (now called Global Public Health Nutrition MSc), with a Merit in 2002. While in the United Kingdom, he attended a short course on Management Skills for Project Leaders at the Centre for International Child Health at University College London. Henry returned to Nigeria in 2003 to support his State Government, Ebonyi State, Nigeria, to manage a Public Health programme advancing health care services, health promotion and community mobilisation in hard-to-reach areas and very remote rural communities for a decade, visiting well over 500 communities.
He is now a Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine at Ebonyi State University in Nigeria as well as a Visiting Professor of Health Systems Research at Afriworld Higher Education and Research Observatory in the UK.
His role as ACMD is to offer medical and technical expertise, mobilise medical products and consumables and organise medical outreaches and resources to support women, children and the elderly in regions and communities facing conflict.
The International Parliament for Safety, Peace and Justice is a non-governmental organisation first established in South Africa, with Cameroon and Ghana following afterwards. Centres in Asia, Europe and America were later established. It focuses on forming partnerships with Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, United Nations, foundations, philanthropists and many more. Across the globe, the main aim of the organisation is to ensure peace in areas of conflict all over the world, minimising environmental risk and ensuring justice for the oppressed.
About his time at Westminster, Henry said: “I must say that the skills acquired during my study at Westminster have been very helpful in such areas like epidemiology, health promotion, resource management and health leadership skills, all of which made my work easy. I later developed my skills in strengthening healthcare systems and health policy development and combined this with my scholarly works.”
He added: “At IPSPJ, we believe that giving back to society and ensuring peace across regions, races, age groups and sexes can make the world a better place to be.”
Henry’s new role in the IPSPJ directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
Find out more about the Global Public Health Nutrition MSc course at Westminster.
