Africa-Press – Namibia. FIRST lady Monica Geingos said African youth want a return on all the promises leaders have made over the years.
Geingos was speaking at the closing of the 26th Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (Oaflad) extraordinary general assembly on Saturday, where she was also elected as the president.
“Our young people want to see an Africa that we have been promising them, they want to speak for themselves and be at the same table to speak for themselves,” Geingos told the first ladies.
She recognised that much development has been done but said “there is still work to be done” to address the needs of Africa.
“[We are] a continent that understands that whatever issues we want to tackle, we must address these issues with an understanding of the complexity added by poverty, inequality and underdevelopment,” she said.
She said first ladies do not have much power, but they do have powerful platforms.
“And Oaflad is the most powerful platform. We will be sharing our platform to hear directly from the youth and enable them to speak for themselves,” she said.
Oaflad was established in 2002 for African first ladies to offer a continent-wide leadership in terms of advocacy in the areas of HIV, and a broad range of maternal and child health interventions.
“We are first ladies on a continent that has to deal with socio-economic, political and security challenges,” she said.
Geingos said they need to focus on acquiring financial resources during her term, as well as efficiency.
“We have also seen our financial reports. There is work to be done. Now more than ever, we need to work together to build a financially and organisationally resilient Oaflad,” she highlighted.
Geingos said the pandemic has exacerbated every challenge the organisation faced before 2020, and called for more support.
“There is work to be done.”
Among the key working areas for Oaflad is health financing for sustainable development in Africa.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
