The Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OPDAD) celebrated Saturday in Kinshasa, the twenty years of its existence. The history of the structure dates back to the early 2000s in the face of the outbreak of HIV infections in Africa. Since then, she has become an actress on the continent in campaigns for the benefit of the most vulnerable. The Kinshasa event did not bring together all the first ladies of the continent. It was, however, an opportunity to take stock of the two decades but also of the prospects. Of the fifteen members expected, only 12 traveled to Kinshasa. Very noticeable absence of deans like Antoinette Sassou Nguesso from Congo, Chantal Biya from Cameroon but also Jeannette Kagame from Rwanda.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa,
First ladies, here, gathered in a huge marquee erected in the courtyard of the seat of parliament in Kinshasa, each of them is at least patroness of a foundation in her country. In turn, the wives of heads of state revealed their commitment in panels, like the Burundian Angeline Ndayishimiye, committed to ensuring that school children have hot, healthy and nutritious meals. “ To enable them to have better physical and mental health. Allow them to better assimilate the subjects taught and thus grow with a potential beneficial to their nations “.
President Felix Tshisekedi also recognized in his improvised speech, the contribution of these women, who whisper in the ears of heads of state. “ I would like to list some of your actions like reducing neonatal infant and maternal mortality rate, improving adolescent sexual reproductive health, gender equality and empowerment of women “.
For this first day, we had precious exchanges and touching testimonies around the fights that we defend in the service of the most vulnerable: access to education, health care, the promotion of female leadership.
— Denise NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI (@DeniseNyakeru) June 17, 2023
For the next 20 years, the women of the presidents would like to advance the cause of women, especially gender equality in Africa. To do this, they launched the “WeAreEqual” campaign focused on health, the fight against gender-based violence, women’s empowerment and education.
” It is estimated that it would take 155 years to achieve gender parity, but we don’t have that time. The launch of this campaign has the potential to transform our continent, it is a collective momentum for change. Clearly, closing this gap will benefit everyone: when we empower women and girls, we empower families, communities and nations. When we invest in health and education, we unlock the full potential of our continent said Monica Geingos, First Lady of Namibia and President of OPDAD..
One of the latest figures to speak, Pramila Patten, the UN’s envoy on conflict-related rape issues, hailed the campaign, while calling on first ladies to be the voices of the voiceless. ” I need mighty voices like yours to put an end to this heinous crime which is not an inevitable by-product of war nor collateral but preventable damage “. According to the diplomat, throughout history “, conflict-related rape is above all a war crime, “ that no world leader wanted to fight “.
UN envoy for conflict-related sexual violence, Pramila Patten, praises the First Lady of the #RDC🇨🇩 @DeniseNyakeru. “The launch of @DNT Foundation provided a powerful platform to amplify the voices of survivors and end the… pic.twitter.com/WfQTwOKckR
—Pascal Mulegwa (@pascal_mulegwa) June 17, 2023