In Los Angeles, CA yesterday, the African First Ladies Health Summit began - a conference created to build alliances and discuss the various ways in which the First Ladies of African countries could affect change in the health of their respective countries. The two-day conference is convened by African Synergy and US Doctors for Africa (USDFA), and hosted by the RAND Corporation. Organizing partners include the Packard Foundation, Proctor & Gamble, General Electric, the World Health Organization, and AllAfrica.com, among others.
The 15 participating First Ladies, who are participating by invitation only, are focusing on professional leadership development, education, and awareness-raising, and culminates in a Gala evening event and fundraiser. Clearly defined goals for the summit were created among the First Ladies and USDFA for months prior to this event, so that the closed-door meetings would have the greatest productivity during this innovative summit.
The goals include:
- Educate the world about the First Ladies’ philanthropic efforts across Africa.
- Focus on 1-3 of the First Ladies’ most pressing priorities, for example on maternal health, as well as girls’ education and HIV/AIDS.
- Identify actionable items on these topics, to be pursued together with global partners and in-line with the UN Millennium Development Goals.
- Engage in professional development workshops of interest for the First Ladies.
- Identify top donors to support First Ladies’ work.
- Lift visibility and international respect for First Ladies work.
Read more about the summit:
- LA Times
- CNN
Tags: africa health news, health summit
