First lady in Ethiopia for the 22nd General Assembly of OAFLA

General News of Monday, February 11, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2019-02-11

The First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, is pleased with the expansion of the field of action of the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV / AIDS (OAFLA).
She said the expansion was a good fit for all the areas that her organization, the Rebecca Foundation, was working on.

Ms Akufo-Addo said this when she was informed of the results of the deliberations of the technical session of the ODAFA held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last Saturday.

The First Lady is in Addis Ababa to attend the 22nd Ordinary General Assembly of OSARO.

She was briefed by members of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) at OAFLA.

The General Assembly will confirm the change of name of OAFLA in Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OFLAD) and the launch of its strategic plan 2019-2023.

Thematic areas

Acting Director General of the GAC, Mr. Steve Kyeremeh Atuahene, who led his organization at the information meeting, said that with the change of name of the organization, the First Ladies work on six thematic areas – noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), gender equality, women and youth empowerment, procreation, maternal, newborn and child health, social safety and security, including persons with disabilities, institutional capacity building and HIV / AIDS.

Mr. Atuahene said that, given his new perspectives, the organization was now interested in vulnerable populations and that, therefore, every First Lady had to work in the broadest thematic areas, so that align with the new OFLAD strategic plan 2019-2023.

He added that it had been discussed at the technical advisory meeting that expanding the scope of First Ladies, with their new directions, would attract more donors for their activities.

Mr Atuahene said the OAFLA Secretariat would work closely with the Member States on their country-specific operational plans, according to national priorities and the interests of the different first ladies.

Scope

After the meeting, Ms. Akufo-Addo welcomed the extension of the scope of OAFLA and said so far that all the areas she had worked on in her country were all aligned with the new strategic plan.

She added that the Rebecca Foundation would continue to work to improve the lives of vulnerable people in Ghana, and mentioned its areas of interest, namely the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV / AIDS, the promotion of literacy, girls and maternal and neonatal health.

Dr. Mokowa Blay Adu-Gyamfi, Counselor of the Government of Ghana for HIV / AIDS, who was also the former Director General of the GAC, was present at the meeting.

Later in the day, the First Lady attended a meeting of the OAFLA Steering Committee, during which Ms. Margaret Kenyatta, First Lady of Kenya, was elected in absentia as Vice President of the organization.

The post became vacant after the resignation of Roman Tsefaye, wife of Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemarian Desalegn, following the resignation of her husband.

The current president of OAFLA, Mrs. Adwovi Sika Kabore, first lady of Burkina Faso, who was then vice-president, became its president.