Sarah Degnan Kambou is president of the

International Center for Research on Women The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, with regional offices in New Delhi, India, Nairobi, Kenya, and Kampala, Uganda. ICRW has project offices in Mumba ...

(ICRW), a global research institute that focuses on making women integral to alleviating poverty worldwide.

Biography

Kambou grew up in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and received her education at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. She cofounded and for eight years served as a director of the Center for International Health in the

Boston University School of Public Health Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. Founded in 1976, the School offers master's- and doctoral-level programs in public health. It is located in the heart of Boston University's Me ...

. While there, Kambou directed intensive training programs for international health professionals, managed BU’s collaborative programs with

Tongji Medical University Tongji Medical College (TJMC, ) is a medical school in Wuhan, China. Formerly Tongji Medical University (), it became part of the newly established Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Huazhong University of Science and Technology, ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Tribhuvan University Tribhuvan University (TU; ne, त्रिभुवन विश्वविद्यालय) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest university in Nepal. In terms of enrollment, it is t ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, and consulted widely across South and Southeast

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. Kambou later lived in

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

for more than a decade, where she managed programs for

CARE (relief agency) CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, formerly Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) is a major international humanitarian agency delivering emergency relief and long-term international development projects. Founded i ...

. There, Degnan Kambou focused on addressing social and economic vulnerability of marginalized populations, strengthening civil society in post-conflict settings and participatory development of underserved urban and rural communities. She also established the CARE country office in

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

during the civil conflict and designed community-led reproductive health programs in post-conflict

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

and

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

. Prior to being named president, Kambou served as ICRW’s chief operating officer, coordinating internal leadership and management functions, and leading the implementation of the organization’s restructuring and strategic review processes. Earlier, as ICRW’s vice president of health and development, she oversaw research in

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

and

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, reproductive health and nutrition as well as in gender, violence and women’s rights. In 2010, Kambou was appointed by United States Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

to represent ICRW on the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

). Kambou was honored in 2010 with the

's Distinguished Alumni Award for her contributions to the field of public health.

Education

Kambou holds a doctorate in international health policy and a master’s in public health from Boston University. She earned her bachelor's degree in French from the

Expertise

Kambou is an expert in sexual and reproductive health, HIV and AIDS and adolescent programming. She has worked in 26 countries and dedicated more than 25 years to addressing issues in the developing world.

Publications

"Exploring Dimensions of Masculinity and Violence"

"Walking the Talk: Inner Spaces, Outer Faces, A Gender and Sexuality Initiative"

"Gendered Empowerment and HIV Prevention: Policy and Programmatic Pathways to Success in the MENA Region"

Speeches and statements

G(irls)20 Summit in Toronto, June 16, 2010
"A Message From ICRW President Sarah Degnan Kambou"
July 7, 2010

References

External links

International Center for Research on Women

ICRW Facebook

ICRW Twitter

Washington Post, Jun-28, 2010 * ttp://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/834896--toronto-hosts-g-irls-20-summit "Toronto Hosts 'Girls20' Summit" Inside Toronto, Jun-16, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kambou, Sarah Degnan Living people Boston University School of Public Health faculty Boston University School of Public Health alumni University of Connecticut alumni International Center for Research on Women Year of birth missing (living people)