The Oxford graduate chose rural Nigeria over a corporate job. "I know a lot of women who have 18 children."

Originally published on Forbes.pl by Krzysztof Domaradzki.

Instead of helping the rich become even richer, Klau helps those who have nothing. Klau Pakos, co-founder and CEO of Lafiya Nigeria, has already supported 350,000 Nigerian women in accessing contraception and convinced the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support their cause.

Photo: Piotr Waniorek / Forbes

Forbes: On your foundation's website, Lafiya Nigeria, you cite a horrific statistic: more than 220 million women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to safe and voluntary family planning. Furthermore, nearly 90,000 women die each year from complications related to unplanned pregnancies. How did this happen?

Klau: It's a complex problem, but it stems largely from poverty, lack of access to sex education, and the nature of childbirth itself, which can be a beautiful yet traumatic event. In Nigeria, women have an average of five children, but I know many Nigerian women who have seventeen or eighteen. The World Health Organization recently released a report showing that every two minutes a woman dies in childbirth, and one-third of these deaths occur in Nigeria. Nigerian women are facing an incredible crisis.

Forbes: Your foundation wants to address it. How?

Klau: We want to ensure that every person in Nigeria has access to contraception, because the right to health is a fundamental human right. To achieve this, we're reaching the most vulnerable areas with contraceptives – those far from urban centers and facing severe economic hardship. We intend to prove that we can achieve our goal where it seems impossible. This will make it easier to convince others, including those in power, that it can be done.

Read the full article here (in Polish).