Eliya Zulu is the Executive Director and founder of the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), whose mission is to inform African public policy formulation and implementation with research and related evidence. Before founding AFIDEP, he was the Deputy Director and Director of Research at the African Population and Health Research Center, where he headed the Urbanisation and Wellbeing Research Programme. Eliya has over 20 years of experience in developing and managing research, capacity building, and policy engagement programmes on a wide range of issues, including population change and sustainable development, family planning, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, HIV and AIDS, urban poverty and health, child and maternal health concerning Africa. He is an internationally acclaimed scholar who has served as the President of the African Union for Population Studies and been a member of many global development panels, including the African Union Steering Committee on the Demographic Dividend and World Health Organization expert panels. Eliya provides a strong southern voice on development issues and has given high-level keynote addresses at various regional and global platforms, including the United Nations General Assembly.