Sylvia Hamata, International Confederation of Midwives (ICM)

Sylvia Hamata is a women’s rights activist, nurse and midwife, and an admitted legal practitioner of the High Court of Namibia with over 10 years of experience in health system governance. She is a passionate advocate for women’s rights within health care systems, sexual reproductive health and rights, good maternal, neonatal and child health outcomes and midwifery profession. She is the Vice – Chairperson of the Independent Midwives Association of Namibia (IMANA). She was selected by the International Confederation of Midwife (ICM) as a Young Midwife Leader (YML) in 2019. Sylvia serves on various committees on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, nationally and globally. She is a member of the Guiding Group for the Global Political Movement on women's and girls' rights called SheDecides. She is also serving as a member of the Programme Committee, advising and supporting the development of the International Maternal, Newborn Health Conference’s (IMNHC2023) scientific program; and the Independent Election Committee (IEC) of ICM, assisting the Council in fulfilling its governance responsibilities, regarding all matters related to the appointment of members of the Board. She is also a member of the Namibia Technical Working Group on infection prevention and control strategic planning.