Addressing the opening ceremony of the 9th General Assembly of the AFLPM, the president also urged African leaders and other stakeholders to support the women in realising their core objective of building a peaceful society.

The Nigerian leader expressed concern that peace had become an elusive subject that affected development in many regions of Africa.

”The activities of insurgents and bandits have led to more widespread displacement and poverty.

”It is not in doubt that women and children are the worst affected by the breakdown of peace. Therefore, as mothers, I believe, you are in a better position to drive the processes of peace and actions where necessary.

”Indeed, I’m happy to know that your forum has been working towards promoting peaceful coexistence within the continent in so many ways,” he said.

President Buhari congratulated the Nigerian First Lady, Aisha Buhari, for acquiring a piece of land on behalf of all First Ladies for the development of a secretariat for the mission in Abuja.

”It gladdens my heart to know that when completed the secretariat will serve several purposes including creating employment opportunities as well as generating income for sustainability,” he said.

The 9th General Assembly of the AFLPM unanimously elected the First Lady of Nigeria as the new president.

In her acceptance speech, Aisha Buhari pledged to execute her new responsibility with total commitment, urging her colleagues to work in unison towards a glorious destiny for Africa.

”With all sense of humility, I accept my election as the incoming 9th President of the African First Ladies Peace Mission.

”I want to sincerely thank all my colleagues for your continuous support and understanding and for entrusting me with this great responsibility.

”I pledge to execute my responsibility with total commitment and in accordance to the Missions laid down regulations.

”Your Excellences, Gentlemen of the Press, as you are aware, the task before us is a collective commitment hence the cooperation of all us is needed for the overall success of the African First Ladies Peace Mission.

”On my own part, I assure you that I will discharge the affairs of my office with honesty, dedication and inclusivity.

”My dear colleagues as we conclude this Summit, let history guide us to ensure that the Africa we bequeath to our children today is better than the one we inherited.

”Let us commit ourselves to working together towards achieving a glorious destiny for all Africans,” she said.

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The commitment was reaffirmed on Monday at a high level meeting on the sidelines of 20th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) themed “Leadership of African First Ladies in the fight against HIV and AIDs.”

The conference was held at the Kigali Convention Centre.

President of OAFLAD and First Lady of the Republic of Congo H.E. Madam Antoinette Tchibota Sassou-Nguesso said the First Ladies had been fighting HIV for almost 20 years since OAFLAD was formed.

The support and experience gained in the period she explained, had demonstrated “our willingness to achieve the objectives for which OAFLAD was formed.”

First Lady of Rwanda, Jeannette Kagame said in her welcome remarks that OAFLA was born, “out of our collective need, to amplify the voices of those living with, and affected by HIV and AIDS, especially the women and children, who are the most vulnerable.”

She invited First Ladies to reflect on their multifaceted roles in this journey to ensure that communities fully thrived and called on them to acknowledge what had worked and reveal what had not, to enable them to make more meaningful interventions.

She said initiatives such as the Free to Shine Campaign, being anchored by African First Ladies had made tremendous impact, “pushing us to strengthen our efforts and commitment to end Pediatric AIDS and keep mothers healthy.”

Comments by Donald Kaberuka of the Global Fund and Malick Fall of UNICEF all indicated that Africa has made tremendous progress economically and politically but they both agreed on the need to increase budget for public health and call on OAFLA to be part of the campaign.

Representative of Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari and Special Assistant to the President on OAFLAD, Mohammed Albishir, in a media interaction said, Mrs. Buhari had used her position as UNAIDS Ambassador on Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (EMTCT) of HIV/AIDS to partner extensively in the reduction of the prevalence of HIV children and young people.

Only last week, he said, she organised a symposium to mark the World AIDS Day, 2019 under the theme: “Communities make the difference, adolescent and young people matter.”

She also had a successful launch of the Free to Shine Campaign late last year.

Mr. Albishir said she had reiterated the importance of girl child education, poverty reduction, equality and fight against GBV as important factors that will reduce HIV among youths, especially girls, whose rate of infection has been proven to be on the rise.

The conference was attended by the First Ladies of Ghana, Niger, Chad, Rwanda, Botswana and Congo as well as international development organisations and donor agencies.

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The event held at the Roosevelt Hotel, New York.

Those who spoke at the event included Prof. Akinwumi Adesina of African Development Bank; Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus of World Health Organisation; Dereje Wordofa of UN Population Fund and Julius Maada Bio, the President of Sierra Leone.

At the end of the event, the African First Ladies launched a campaign “Hands off our girls” and issued a communique containing demands including the rights of women and girls to be equal partners in development, to be seen and heard, to economic empowerment, to universal health care and the right to justice.

“We want the right to live freely from all forms of gender-based violence including early marriage and rape, we stand together to say hands off our girls,” the document revealed.

It would be remembered that last year, First Lady of Nigeria, Mrs. Aisha Buhari launched the “Leave our daughters alone” campaign on the aftermath of frequent abductions, rape and violence against women.

The event, which held at the National Center for Women Development, Abuja, reverberated around the country and led to a national workshop on gender-based violence.

She was represented at the New York event by Dr. Hajo Sani, Senior Special Assistant to the President as well as other officials.

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