France Donnay, MD, FACOG, FRCOG, MPH received her medical degree from the University of Liege in Belgium in 1974 and completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Brussels in 1981. She received her Masters in Public Health from the University of Nancy, France in 1991. From 1981-1994, Dr Donnay practised in public and private hospitals in Brussels and worked as a consultant for reproductive and maternal health for WHO, The World Bank, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). From 1985-1994, she was a maternal health consultant to Doctors without Borders and Doctors of the World and worked in Armenia, Cambodia, Chad and Guinea-Conakry. Over the last 30 years, she has visited 60 + countries in all regions of the world. As Invited Professor at the Paris based International Center for Children and the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, she taught courses on international safe motherhood programs.

In 1994 Dr Donnay joined the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and contributed to safe motherhood policies and programs. In 1999 she transferred to UNFPA wherein 2000 she was appointed Chief of the Reproductive Health Branch at the Technical Support Division in UNFPA Headquarters, a position she held until 2005. From 2005 to 2008 she led the UNFPA office in Pakistan and worked on maternal health policies and programs with the Government of Pakistan, UN partners and other agencies. In April 2008 she joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She manages a Maternal Health portfolio of about 20 grants, contributes to advocacy and policy briefings, and represents the foundation at global conferences. She is a member of the Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health team based in Integrated Health Solutions Development. In 2009 she was made Fellow honoris causa at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Also, she has written more than 50 articles and reports on maternal health.