By Ayo Oke

Dr. Chinedum Favour Ajala has been awarded the Eminent Peace Ambassador Award by the International Association of World Peace Advocates (IAWPA) under the United Nations Peace Volunteers framework.

The award, formally conferred in 2025, recognizes Dr. Ajala’s nationally significant and evidence-based contributions to societal peace through telehealth-enabled HIV surveillance, mobile-clinic service delivery, and epidemic-control systems that have strengthened health equity, reduced stigma, and improved community stability across multiple states in Nigeria.

IAWPA’s Eminent Peace Ambassador Award is reserved for individuals whose work demonstrates measurable societal impact, independent leadership, and alignment with global peace and development priorities, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The honor is strictly merit-based and is not awarded for affiliation or ceremonial participation, but for the substance, scale, and sustainability of documented outcomes.

For the 2025 award cycle, nine (9) nominees from multiple regions were shortlisted following a competitive nomination process. Nominees were assessed through a multi-jurisdictional evaluation structure involving international leadership oversight in Denmark, United Nations–facing representation, African Union–facing representation, U.S.-based diaspora leadership, and national institutional review in Nigeria. Following comprehensive comparative evaluation, Dr. Ajala emerged as the award recipient, distinguished by the breadth, measurability, and national relevance of her impact.

Among the factors cited by the evaluation panel were Dr. Ajala’s telehealth and mobile-clinic interventions, which reduced untreated disease burden, improved continuity of care, and mitigated stigma-related social exclusion associated with HIV. Her work modernized surveillance and epidemic-control systems, expanded access to diagnosis and treatment, and contributed to community resilience and social cohesion at both state and national levels.

The IAWPA Eminent Peace Ambassador Award places Dr. Ajala among a select group of honorees whose work reflects exceptional leadership and demonstrable contribution to peace and development. According to the Association, the 2025 conferment affirms that her selection was strictly merit-based, grounded in outstanding societal impact, national and statewide relevance, and clear peacebuilding outcomes achieved through public-health leadership.

In announcing the award, IAWPA noted that Dr. Ajala’s work exemplifies how health-systems strengthening functions as a peacebuilding instrument, reducing preventable mortality, enhancing household stability, and fostering long-term community harmony—outcomes central to sustainable peace and equitable development.