Marleen Temmerman

Biography

Dr. Marleen Temmerman, an obstetrician-gynaecologist who worked all over the world for the health and rights of women and children, is a pioneer in the fight for equal rights for women and men.

Most of her work is in the academic and political international arena, particularly in collaboration with UN organizations, such as WHO and UNFPA, the European Union, the African Union, national governments in Europe and Africa, as well as with media and civil society.

Marleen Temmerman combines unique high-level skills in academics, science, management and politics, topped with eagerness to make wider impact in the area of women, children and adolescents’ health and rights, a mix which made the Lancet call her ‘a polymath in reproductive health’. Her advocacy efforts for women’s health and rights also inspired the Irish rock band U2 during their concert on 1 August 2017 in the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels to include her in the list of inspiring women (‘Women of the World Unite’) who were put in the spotlight during the song Ultra Violet (Light my Way).

Professional career

Marleen Temmerman studied Medicine at Ghent University, Belgium. This choice was primarily made out of social engagement. Her first contact with Africa during an internship in Butare, Rwanda, in 1975 raised her interest in the health and rights of women living in low and middle income countries.

Early career

Trained in obstetrics and gynaecology, tropical medicine and public health, she was engaging in research; as a junior researcher in the eighties, later as research leader and mentor. She started with research in infertility at the General Hospital of the Free University of Brussels (Belgium), followed by clinical epidemiological research on sexually transmitted diseases and HIV at the Department of Microbiology at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Belgium), under the leadership of Professor dr. Peter Piot. This position included a lecturing and research assignment at the University of Nairobi (Kenya), where she was a member of the WHO Collaborative Centre on HIV/STI, Department of Medical Microbiology. Marleen Temmerman lived in Kenya from 1986 until 1992.

Ghent University and the International Centre of Reproductive Health

Back in Belgium in 1992, she founded the International Centre of Reproductive Health (ICRH) at Ghent University which has sister research organizations in Kenya (ICRHK) and Mozambique (ICRHM), and a large global collaborative academic network. ICRH obtained research funding from the European Commission, the Belgian development cooperation (DGD, BTC), the Flemish development cooperation (VLIR, FICA), the Special Research Fund (BOF) of Ghent University and other organizations. Many of these research activities took place in sub-Saharan Africa and involved implementation research on a broad range of sexual and reproductive health issues, including HIV/AIDS. In addition, research collaborations were set up with other European countries, China, India, Central and Latin America, Australia and the Russian Federation. ICRH is a WHO Collaborating Centre on Reproductive Health since 2004, and a UNFPA preferential partner.

Since 1995 Dr. Marleen Temmerman is a full Professor OB/GYN at the Ghent University in Belgium, currently with leave of absence. During her over 30 years of clinical work as an obstetrician she supervised over 18,000 births in many parts of the world. Her interest is women’s health and rights. She established a worldwide network of universities in the field of reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health, leading to measurable outputs with over 500 publications and around 50 PhD supervisions in Europe, Africa, Latin America and China.

World Health Organisation

In 2012, Marleen Temmerman was appointed Director of the Department of Reproductive Health and Research of the World Health Organization. RHR is the main instrument within the United Nations system for research in human reproduction and sexual and reproductive health, bringing together policy-makers and programmers, scientists, health care providers, clinicians, consumers and community representatives to identify and address priorities for research to improve sexual and reproductive health.. She provided strategic leadership for WHO within the context of ICPD beyond 2014, Beijing+20 and the post 2015 MDGs and Sustainable Development Goals discussions and led on behalf of WHO the development of the technical content for the Global Strategy on Every Women, Every Child, Every Adolescent 2016-2030.

Aga Khan University

In December 2015 she retired from the World Health Organization and is since working at Aga Khan University (AKU), based in Nairobi, Kenya. Currently she is Head of Department Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Director of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health.

Politics

Marleen Temmerman began her political career with Agalev, the Flemish Green Party. In 2001 she became member of the town council of Lokeren on behalf of Agalev. In 2004 she joined the Socialist Party (sp.a). She was elected as a Senator to the Belgian Parliament in 2007 where she served until 2012 as a Member of the Commission on Social Affairs, the Committee on European Affairs, the Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities between Women and Men, and the Committee on the Monitoring of Foreign Missions. In that capacity, she was member of the European Parliamentary Forum and Chair of the HIV/AIDS Advisory Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. In 2011 she succeeded Johan Vande Lanotte as fraction leader in the Senate. As an expert in Women’s health and as a politician, she served as a member of the UN iERG (independent expert review group) till 2012. In autumn 2012 she left politics to become Director of the Department of Reproductive Health and Research at the World Health Organization. Her successor in the Belgian Senate was Leona Detiège.

On 8 February 2011, after 244 days without Belgian government, Marleen Temmerman, inspired by the Lysistrata comedy by Aristophanes, suggested to the spouses of Belgian politicians to ban sex until the country forms a government.

Books and publications

Marleen Temmerman has a strong academic and scientific background with over 500 publications and books in the area of women’s health, with a Hirsch index of 44. She published a series of books for a broader public (in Dutch: Onrust in de Onderbuik, Bekentenissen uit de Onderbuik, Milady, Mama Daktari) with engaging stories about women and girls’ lives. She has also contributed to a series of online educational videos on pregnancy and childbirth.

Awards and honours

Marleen Temmerman received several awards and honours for her research and advocacy work, among others:

Ghent University established the Marleen Temmerman Fund which relies entirely on voluntary donations. With this Fund the Ghent University honours her faculty staff member and helps to improve the situation of numerous women and children.

Memberships

Former and current important affiliations/memberships include:

Public and external relations

Marleen Temmerman is a regular speaker at political, scientific, and various public fora, with an extensive network of funders, media, political and scientific bodies in Belgium, Europe and internationally.

Personal life

Marleen Temmerman is married and has a son.