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Nyovani Madise, AFIDEP’s Director of Development Policy and Head of Malawi office is the new Vice President (VP) of the Union for African Population Studies (UAPS), a regional scientific body that generates evidence on population and its application for development planning in Africa.

Professor Madise was elected to be part of the Union’s leadership during its 8^th convening of the African Population Conference (APC) held in Entebbe, Uganda from November 18-22, 2019. She will hold this position for the next four years, and according to the UAPS’ constitution, this position gives her direct nomination to become the next President of the Union for another four years after her tenure as the VP. So, for the next eight (8) years, Prof Madise will join hands with other elected leaders and experts in the field of demography and population studies to reinforce partnerships, mentorship of demographers and UAPS’ voice in Africa’s development efforts.

With the theme, “Harnessing Africa’s Population Dynamics for Sustainable Development: 25 Years after Cairo and Beyond,” the 8^th APC provided a scientific platform to galvanize discussions of the Nairobi summit 25^th International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD 25) held the previous week. Prof Madise was the chair of the Scientific Committee of the conference, and worked alongside other members of AFIDEP including Dr Bernard Onyango, and Dr Nurudeen Alhassan.

As the new UAPS Vice-President and President-designate, Prof Madise, a woman of many firsts, makes history as the first female to be at the Union’s helm. Among others, she hopes to see increased membership, greater diversity in the Union’s council, regional meetings in-between the APCs, mentoring of young demographers, donor commitment, and increased dialogue on population matters between UAPS members, national governments and regional economic blocs.

The newly installed UAPS President, Dr Donatien Beguy, a demographer with the UN-Habitat said that the focus of the new leadership would be to strengthen the union as the regional vehicle through which population research is produced to effectively address population challenges on the African continent.

UAPS was established in 1984 under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and normally convenes the APC every four years. Other experts that have steered the Union over the years include Dr Eliya Zulu, AFIDEP’s Executive Director who was the body’s Vice-President in 2004-2007 and consequently served as the President for the next four years; 2007-2011.