The UNAIDS Representative to the African Union (AU) and Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Mrs Rosemary Museminali, has commended the First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama, for setting priorities for the welfare of women and children on the continent.
She also congratulated the First Lady on her appointment as the new president of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV and AIDS (OAFLA).
Mrs Museminali gave the commendation when she called on the First Lady at her office in Accra on Thursday to identify areas of partnerships and support for the First Lady.
She said the election of Mrs Mahama as the OAFLA president showed the belief her peers and partners have in her ability to replicate the commitment she had shown at the national level on the continental platform.
Results for OAFLA
She said now that Mrs Mahama had assumed the presidency, she had no doubt in her mind that she would work to generate results for OAFLA and Africa, in supporting the continental objective of ending the spread of the HIV epidemic, as a public health issue, particularly supporting efforts to end mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Mrs Museminali said UNAIDS had been a long-standing supporter of OAFLA, since its inception, and pledged their support to the First Lady in terms of providing her with technical and financial support to enable her to carry out her two-year mandate.
She urged the First Lady to bring back all the OAFLA countries that have been dormant for some time, and bring new first ladies on board to move their agenda of ending the HIV epidemic.
Successes chalked up
According to her, since up the inception of OAFLA, the first ladies have worked to get 15 million people on treatment, through advocacy and outreach activities.
Mrs Mahama expressed her appreciation to Mrs Museminali and her team for visiting her to explore ways of assisting her to champion the fight against HIV and AIDS, adding that as president of OAFLA, her priorities were aligned to the sustainable development goals that focused on ending HIV and AIDS among children and mother-to-child-transmission of HIV.
She said she intended to work to increase the visibility of OAFLA for influencing the global agenda and mobilise resources at the national, continental and global levels, in support of that objective.
<<Print>>