African First Ladies Health Summit

Twenty two African first ladies come together for the first time in the U.S. for the Leadership of Health African First Ladies Health Summit.

In light of their shared visions to improve the health and lives of populations throughout Africa, African Synergy, an alliance of 22 first ladies from Africa and US Doctors for Africa (USDFA) have come together to form an international partnership focused on health and development in Africa.

This partnership will be launched through this first annual African First Ladies Health Summit, to take place in Los Angeles, California, April 20-21 2009. This two-day summit, focus on maternal health, as well as girls’ education and HIV/AIDS, will highlight the first ladies’ previous initiatives in these areas, forge new partnerships with U.S.-based agencies and corporate foundations, and identify actionable goals for the coming year.

Goals for the summit:

– 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.

Some first ladies involved in the event include Chantal Biya (Cameroon), Chantal Compaore (Burkina Faso), Hadjis Laraba Tanja (Niger), Viviane Wade (Senegal), Hadjia Turai Umar Musa Yar’adua (Nigeria), Maria Da Luz Guebuza (Mozambique), Chantal Boni Yayo (Benin), Toure Lobbo Traore (Mali), Suzanne Mubarak (Egypt), Anna Paula Dos Santos (Angola), Lalla Meryem (Morocco), and Janet Museveni (Uganda).