Debbie Ariyo is Chief Executive of AFRUCA Safeguarding Children.

Debbie founded AFRUCA in May 2001 to address child safeguarding and child trafficking issues in African diaspora communities across the UK and provide services to help support children and families and rehabilitate victims.

Debbie’s background was in the UK civil service where she worked in a range of policy roles across different government departments. She holds an Executive Master degree in Public Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Master degree in Urban Policy from the University of North London and a Bachelor degree in French and Education from the University of Benin, Nigeria.

A noted expert in Safeguarding Children, Debbie has specialist expertise in addressing socio-cultural factors affecting the protection and safeguarding of children of Black and African origins in the UK and Europe. She is also a specialist in forced migration and human trafficking and has vast experience of designing and implementing diaspora anti-trafficking engagement programmes and service provision for victims and survivors.  She works in different capacities as a researcher, an advocate, a court expert witness, a newspaper columnist, a philanthropist and a public speaker. Debbie has trained thousands of professionals across the UK to improve their cultural competence and skills in working with children, young people and families.

 Debbie’s passion has always been to help improve outcomes and protection for children. She has served as Chair and Trustee of various charities, including Children England, KEEN London and the African Europe Diaspora Development Platform. She is the current Chair of Music Relief Foundation, a charity using the power of music to support children at risk.

 Debbie has served on many government working groups to influence policy impacting on children, including as a non- Executive Board member of the defunct UK Independent Safeguarding Authority, and various Home Office and other government departmental working groups. She has held a number of honorary roles at different universities including St Mary’s University and University of Chester.

Debbie believes strongly in strengthening community empowerment to safeguard children. She founded BASNET – The UK BME Anti-Slavery Network in 2019 to help promote racial equity, diversity and inclusion in the UK anti-trafficking sector. More recently she spearheaded the setup of the Manchester Serious Violence and Child Exploitation Network to help strengthen the voices of marginalised communities in Manchester affected by serious violence and child exploitation.

Since 2020, Debbie has run a private initiative for indigent pupils in Nigeria to access education through the provision of scholarships and financial support.

Debbie also holds a number of Fellowships. She is a Churchill Fellow, a former Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and a Commonwealth Study Conference/Duke of Edinburgh Award. She has received multiple awards for her work at AFRUCA.

On the eve of AFRUCA’s 25th anniversary, Debbie said: “There is no better gift than for AFRUCA to continue impacting children for another 25 years. This is a possible reality.”

Debbie was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2011 for her work with children and families.

Debbie is a great lover of African arts and theatre, She studies Yoruba history and enjoys travelling, exploring the hidden gems in different places.

May 2025