First Lady pledges to assist the vulnerable
FIRST Lady, Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa, has committed to assisting women, children and the vulnerable in society as part of her philanthropic work, and has this year lined up several programmes of action towards achievement of that goal.
She made the pledge yesterday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while addressing the 22nd Ordinary General Assembly of the Organisation of the African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD).
The two-day meeting was running under the theme, “Collaborating to transform Africa: Addressing the needs of the vulnerable populations”.
“It is a pleasure to be with you again my dear sisters, fellow First Ladies. Under the new brand OAFLAD, I commit to continue supporting vulnerable groups, including among others, women, youth and the girl child, orphans and vulnerable children and elderly persons in institutions and people with disabilities (PWDs),” said the First Lady.
“You all agree with me that we need our women, youth and children to be healthy in order to realise overall development in Africa. As such, my previous interventions in health under OAFLAD remain relevant to OAFLAD, especially when combined with empowerment programmes and projects which I have initiated as well.”
Amai Mnangagwa updated the OAFLAD on programmes she is embarking on in Zimbabwe to assist the vulnerable in society.
“I officially launched the Free to Shine Campaign in Zimbabwe on the 29th of August 2018, and I am committed to championing this initiative in my country through advancing high level advocacy towards attaining this noble goal of eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis,” she said.
This year, Amai Mnangagwa has lined a number of programmes.
“These include launch of ‘The First Lady and the Girl Child Programme” in February 2019 as a follow up to the Stakeholders’ Conference on the Girl Child that I convened on the 8th of January 2019,” said Amai Mnangagwa. “The theme for the stakeholders’ conference was “Our Girl, Our Pride, Our Future, and many stakeholders attended from line ministries, civil society, the AU ambassador for Ending Early Child Marriages, UN Agencies, media and young girls in school and out of school.”
Amai Mnangagwa told the OAFLD that she was hosting community events and mass media campaigns to advance the Free to Shine Campaign, including championing the country’s efforts towards Validation of Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and syphilis.
The First Lady will host a male conference in Zimbabwe to address low male involvement in health care and poor health seeking behaviour in men, as well as address child marriages and gender-based violence.
High level advocacy with political, traditional and religious leaders is also on her agenda.
“As Ambassador for Health and Child Care in my country, I will advocate for Sexual and Reproductive Health needs of women, including championing cervical cancer screening and tackling issues of maternal and child mortality and continue to support marginalised communities, bringing outreach services to them through my foundation; Angel of Hope,” said Amai Mnangagwa.
“I will continue supporting the elderly people in institutions and people with disabilities in Zimbabwe. At the end of 2018, I visited my fellow sister Madam Margaret Kenyatta with my delegation on a learning tour where indeed we learnt a lot.
“My dear sister, thank you for hosting me in your country. On the same note, I am extending an invitation to you all my dear sisters to come to Zimbabwe and see what I am doing through my Angel of Hope Foundation. May I end by reiterating that I remain committed to working towards the fulfilment of the vision and mission of our rebranded OAFLAD.”