First Lady of Sierra Leone & President of the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development, Dr Fatima Maada Bio and the First Lady of the Gambia, Fatoumatta Bah Barrow, have arrived in Accra for an African First Ladies high-level side event as part of the 23rd International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA).
Thursday, December 4’s meeting, being hosted by Ghana’s First Lady, Lordina Dramani Mahama, is on Ending Mother-to-Child Transmission and the Triple Elimination of HIV, Syphilis, and Hepatitis B in Africa.
The engagement will focus on the role of women in leadership in complementing efforts to fight stigmatisation, abuse and neglect of victims, especially women and children, as well as concrete steps to protect their rights in society.
Lordina Mahama and her Foundation have earned international recognition for their advocacy to promote health and humanitarian assistance for the vulnerable over the past decade.
In 2013, she was appointed a Health Ambassador to support the Heart-to-Heart campaign and to champion the care of HIV/AIDS patients in Ghana.
In February 2016, Lordina Mahama, then President of the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA), called for the need for a proactive response to HIV and the sexual and reproductive rights of young people at the 7th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights, held in Accra.
Also expected in Accra for the high-level meeting are the First Ladies of Kenya, Liberia, and a former First Lady of South Africa.