Annick Nonohou

Annick Bidossessi Nonohou Agani Yaï (born ) is a Beninese midwife and human rights activist. She is an advocate against gynaecological and obstetric violence in French-speaking Africa, as well as for midwives' rights, and in 2013 founded the Network of Parent-Friendly Caregivers that campaigns for safer childbirth.

Early life and education Nonohou was born around 1974 in northern Benin, and spent part of her childhood in neighbouring Niger. As a child, Nonohou witnessed her mother receiving inadequate obstetric care, including medical staff not helping her when she fell off the delivery table, and refusing to treat her after erroneously believing she had died, while she gave birth to Nonohou's sibling. Nonohou later stated this experience led to her wishing to train as a midwife. As an adult, Nonohou married Agani Yaï.

In 1999, Nonohou graduated as a midwife from the Institut national médico-sanitaire within the University of Abomey-Calavi. In 2005, she returned to the institution to study for a master's degree in public law, and later for a master of research in human rights and democracy.

Additionally, Nonohou has supported rights of orphans, including gender-based abuse.

Activism

Initial midwifery career (2000–2013) Nonohou began working as a midwife in 2000, initially at the Plateau Clinic in Abomey-Calavi. She has gone on to work at various different healthcare settings, including Parakou Military Maternity Hospital, Borgou Departmental Hospital Centre, and the Centre hospitalier et universitaire de la mère et de l'enfant lagune in Cotonou. At the same time, Nonohou called for there to be greater recognition of the pressures on midwives that can lead to subpar practice, including high rates of physical and sexual violence from patients and other medical staff. In 2013, she established the Network of Patient-Friendly Caregivers (, RSAP), a non-governmental organisation based in Tankpè, with the aim of reducing gynaecological and obstetric violence. Nonohou has called for obstetrics to be overhauled to revolve around "human rights-based obstestric practice", including having the midwifery curricula and hospital care protocols to be rewritten to reflect this.

In 2017, Nonohou was named Midwife of the Year by Espoir Plus, a non-governmental organisation, at a ceremony in Cotonou.

Work with the Beninese government (2023–present) In 2012, Nonohou praised new legislation passed by the Beninese government concerning violence against women for covering childbirth, but criticised it for not specifically including pregnant women, women in labour, and postpartum women. In 2022, Nonohou publicly noted that positive changes made in Benin between 2014 and 2019 at hospitals in the Atlantique and Littoral departments had declined despite support and equipment from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and called on the Beninese government to investigate this further.

In 2023, Nonohou was appointed by the President of Benin, Patrice Talon, as head of the Victim Assistance Unit at the National Institute for Women. Nonohou has also worked with Amnesty International, conducting awareness sessions with communities living in northern Benin and campaigning for patients' rights.

In 2026, Nonohou was among 160 Beninese women recognised by the Ministry of Social Affairs; she was recognised for her campaigns for safe childbirth and against gynaelogical and obstetric violence in French-speaking Africa.