Dr. Emem Omokaro
Executive Director, Dave Omokaro Foundation (DOF); LEADS Scholar, Ageing Studies Development, National Universities Commission; Secretary General, African Society for Ageing Research and Development (ASARD)
Emem Omokaro is the Executive Director of the Dave Omokaro Foundation (DOF). She holds a Ph.D. in Development Sociology from the University of Calabar, Nigeria, with an award winning dissertation that interrogated the quality of care of Nigeria’s older persons.
Emem holds a certificate in Social Gerontology from the International Institute on Ageing (INIA), UN-Malta. She is a policy analyst who has worked extensively in Nigeria to establish strategic participatory platforms and mechanisms that have advanced national action on ageing in the field of policy, education and research. Her pro-active stakeholders’ engagements have built alliances, enhanced multi-sectoral institutional capacity and fuelled momentum in advocacy, legislation and ageing mainstreaming. She served as LEADS Scholar to the National Universities Commission, where she pioneered the study of Gerontology in 11 Nigerian universities. She is member Editorial Board of the INIA Journal of Ageing in Developing Countries, member African Regional Engagement Mechanism Group on Sustainable Development Goals, member Steering Group of Global Alliance for the Rights of Older Persons (GAROP), Secretary General, African Society for Ageing Research and Development (ASARD); President, Gerontology Association of Nigeria (GERAN) and Member Board of Trustees, Coalition of Societies for the Rights of Older Persons in Nigeria (COSROPIN).
Dr. Omokaro is a recipient of many awards and commendations including, Exxon Mobil Award, University of Calabar Foundation Scholarship Award; Louis Edet Prize in Sociology; University of Calabar Alumni Award of Excellence, Nigerian Universities Doctoral Theses Award for best thesis in Social Sciences during 2005. Emem is also a published poet and a recipient of the National Merit Award for arts and culture. She has authored, published and presented scholarly papers on varying aspects of ageing and development in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
Emem holds a certificate in Social Gerontology from the International Institute on Ageing (INIA), UN-Malta. She is a policy analyst who has worked extensively in Nigeria to establish strategic participatory platforms and mechanisms that have advanced national action on ageing in the field of policy, education and research. Her pro-active stakeholders’ engagements have built alliances, enhanced multi-sectoral institutional capacity and fuelled momentum in advocacy, legislation and ageing mainstreaming. She served as LEADS Scholar to the National Universities Commission, where she pioneered the study of Gerontology in 11 Nigerian universities. She is member Editorial Board of the INIA Journal of Ageing in Developing Countries, member African Regional Engagement Mechanism Group on Sustainable Development Goals, member Steering Group of Global Alliance for the Rights of Older Persons (GAROP), Secretary General, African Society for Ageing Research and Development (ASARD); President, Gerontology Association of Nigeria (GERAN) and Member Board of Trustees, Coalition of Societies for the Rights of Older Persons in Nigeria (COSROPIN).
Dr. Omokaro is a recipient of many awards and commendations including, Exxon Mobil Award, University of Calabar Foundation Scholarship Award; Louis Edet Prize in Sociology; University of Calabar Alumni Award of Excellence, Nigerian Universities Doctoral Theses Award for best thesis in Social Sciences during 2005. Emem is also a published poet and a recipient of the National Merit Award for arts and culture. She has authored, published and presented scholarly papers on varying aspects of ageing and development in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.