UNGA79: African First Ladies urged to champion fight against Mpox

IBRAHIM QUADRI

The Organisation of African First Ladies for Development, OAFLAD has stepped up its continent-wide campaign for gender equity with its #We Are Equal in Action.

Busola Kukoyi, SSA Media to Nigeria’s First Lady said in a release that this was disclosed at the side event Summit of African First Ladies at the ongoing 79th United Nations General Assembly, UNGA.

During the discussion session, panelists including representatives of the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, and other partners said the issue of MPox came on the front burner and the African First Ladies were urged to lead the battle against the disease that is fast becoming a global epidemic.

The session also highlighted President Joe Biden’s commitment on behalf of the US to the course of eliminating the disease with a donation of 1 million units of Mpox Vaccine to Africa and an additional $500m to fight the disease in the continent.

Some of the First Ladies, including the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who shared their experiences in the last one year when the #We Are Equal campaign started, noted that the summit would help further shape Africa’s future.

“In Nigeria, I am driving the campaign through the Renewed Hope Initiative, RHI, where we have 5 areas, Economic Empowerment, Social Investment, Agriculture, Health and Education. All of these are in line with my husband’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

“We have also just launched the Young Farmers Club, Nigeria in senior primary and high school, which will see the young ones get involved in Agriculture at an early stage”.

Nigeria’s First Lady emphasized that the nation is responding to the state of emergency on food security declared by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR and that is one of the reasons the RHI is also organizing Every Home a Garden competition, with a prize money and the winner would be announced in December 2024.

“When I was teaching high school, I realized that some of my brightest students had to drop out of school due to early pregnancies. But I also realized they can still be given a second chance”.

“We are having a lot of collaborations presently and we are already having positive results, especially in the area of girl child education and health issues,” Oluremi Tinubu stated.

The Organisation of African First Ladies for Development, OAFLAD also presented an award of appreciation for the successful and impactful launch of the #We Are Equal campaign in Nigeria to the First Lady and four other First Ladies for a similar feat in their countries.

18 African countries have launched the #We Are Equal Campaign. The theme for the Summit was Amplifying Change Through Collaboration.

For a better society

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