First Lady of Brazzaville hosts 26th Extraordinary General Assembly of OAFLAD

The Ghanian First Lady Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo has joined her counterparts in Brazzaville in Congo, in order to attend the 26th OAFLAD General Assembly so as to see out the current President and also elect a new President for the Group. 

This two-day meeting will also discuss financing in the health sector, as well as other development agendas of the first ladies regarding their respective countries. 

This meeting is being hosted by Mrs. Antoinnette Sassou Nguesso, who is the First Lady of the Republic of Congo, and the outgoing president of OAFLAD. 

Other first ladies attending this meet are from Namibia, Liberia, the Gambia, Malawi, the Ivory Coast, Burundi, Kenya, Niger, and Nigeria.

The theme of the meeting is “Twenty years in service of the most vulnerable in Africa” which coincides with the twentieth anniversary of the OAFLAD, attended by 37 first ladies. Their aim is uniting together and serving to be the voice for the most vulnerable people in the African continent, who are children and women living with HIV/AIDS.

As the session opened in Brazzaville, Mrs. Sassou Nguesso warmly welcomed her counterparts alongside everyone who joined the meet in a virtual capacity. She urged everyone to stay true to the commitment of the Organization. 

She said that the meeting would produce a new OAFLAD president besides discussing the management of the organization and its various programs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Records in Brazzaville show that once the OAFLAD was established in Africa, the health profile of the continent had drastically improved because of the efforts of the first ladies in their respective countries. 

Also, the rates of HIV and AIDS deaths are 3 times lower as compared to 2002. The rates of neonatal diseases and maternal diseases are also down by 1.5 times. Finally, the rate of deaths from Malaria which is a big killer, especially of children is two times lower than before.