Global First Ladies Alliance

Dr. Hajo Sani has written a most engaging book on an incredibly fascinating person, Her Excellency Aisha Buhari, Nigeria’s First Lady. It’s unlikely that any First Lady in Nigeria’s history has, in such a few short years, captured the imagination of Nigerians as profoundly as Aisha Buhari. She’s, of course, the first First Lady to be on Twitter, on Instagram and other social media platforms, getting her unfiltered views across to the Nigerian people and she’s probably the fi...rst to receive, in real time, the opinions of Nigerians on her views. With her views, forthright, crisp, truthful and once in a while controversial, she has established an ongoing conversation with the Nigerian people. The issues that concern them most, the issues that concern us the most, good governance, security, putting food on the table, education of our children, prompt payment of pensions to army veterans, drug abuse, violation and victimisation of women and every once in a while, she airs her own personal struggles, her annoyance, in a manner, probably unprecedented in the role of the First Lady anywhere.-- Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo speaking at the launch of the book Aisha Buhari: Being Different by Dr. Hajo Sani. See more

Around the world gender roles contribute to the devastating and disproportionate impact of NTDs on women and girls. Often as primary caregivers women are responsible for the care of children and family members affected by NTDs. This caregiving role not only puts them at a greater risk for NTD infection, but also can keep them from being able to participate in income generating work. Women are also more likely to fetch water from water sources and are therefore at greater risk for exposure to NTDs such as #schistosomiasis. Photo: Women in Matlab, Bangladesh #NTDS #WomenAndNTDS

"Neglected Tropical Diseases are pernicious. They prevent children from going to school and oblige families to take care of affected relatives who cannot work. As a consequence, this seriously impacts the number of people who are able to develop through work. The advice is to stay out of stagnant water in areas where this disease is endemic (the disease is transmitted by small freshwater snails). But if you are a woman or a child in a country where your role in the family in...volves fetching water, you are naturally more at risk. Most women and girls will develop schistosomiasis if they are not treated: if they are infected, the disease could develop into female genital schistosomiasis which increases the risk of contracting HIV and has a huge impact on the reproductive health of women, leading to complications during childbirth. For people living in isolated rural areas with limited access to regular health care, such risks regularly put their lives in danger. We need women in good health to fully play their part in the economic growth of our developing countries if we want to reach our full potential and to help people out of poverty through education and employment. We should continue raising awareness and supporting advocacy, to ensure that the critical situation of women with regard to the risk of NTDs is properly addressed. I created KIMI Foundation to promote the prevention of avoidable diseases, in particular among women and children. To achieve this target, I implement educational programs and hygiene promotion campaigns. I believe that these will contribute to health policy as implemented by the Government and public authorities of my country." -- Sika Bella Kaboré, First Lady of Burkina Faso #NTDS #WomenAndNTDS

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt, closing the global gender gap has increased by an entire generation from 99.5 years to 135.6 years. "We hope that this report will serve as a call to action to leaders to embed gender parity as a central goal of our policies and practices to manage the post-pandemic recovery, to the benefit of our economies and our societies." said Saadia Zahidi..., World Economic Forum Managing Director. The report's Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks the evolution of gender-based gaps among four key areas: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment, tracking progress towards closing these gaps over time. The gender gap in Political Empowerment remains the largest of the four gaps tracked. At the current rate of progress, the World Economic Forum estimates that it will take 145.5 years to attain gender parity in politics. Across the 156 countries covered by the index, women represent only 26.1% of parliament seats and just 22.6% of ministers worldwide. In 81 countries, there has never been a woman head of state, as of 15th January 2021. Photo: Prime Minister Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda the first female prime minister of Gabon took office in 2020.

The impact of the pandemic is likely to slow the progress to gender parity by another generation - unless governments and employers act today. Women, including white collar women who are working from home, are now under a sort of double shift scenario, where they are primarily responsible for care responsibilities in the home, while at the same time obviously working under increased stress in the workplace. There can be perhaps a tendency to think of gender equality as an af...terthought, to think about the challenges associated with gender equality and the permanent scarring that may occur in our labor markets as something that we deal with later. Our point of view here is that we must do the exact opposite. This is actually the moment to embed consciously and proactively gender equality into the recovery. -- Saadia Zahidi, managing director of the World Economic Forum. #COVIDandWomen #COVIDandGender

On International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we celebrate the women scientists at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. Dr. Sarah Gilbert (pictured) led her team of scientists at Oxford University's Jenner Institute to create the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID vaccine. Previously her work was focused on creating a universal flu vaccine - a vaccine which would be effective against all the different strains. In 2014, she led the first trial of an Ebola vaccine. And wh...en the MERS - Middle East respiratory syndrome - virus struck, she travelled to Saudi Arabia to try to develop a vaccine for this form of coronavirus. The second trial of her MERS vaccine was just beginning when COVID-19 emerged in China. As soon Chinese scientists published the genetic structure of the new virus, Dr Gilbert responded very quickly to design a vaccine using a similar approach to her MERS vaccine. #WomenInScience See more

On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we celebrate the women scientists at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett (pictured) is a leading scientist for the Coronavirus Vaccines & Immunopathogenesis Team at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She developed Moderna's coronavirus vaccine, one of two vaccines currently approved for emergency use in the U.S to fight COVID-19. A viral immunologist by training, Dr. Corbett used her... expertise to respond swiftly to the pandemic. Dr. Corbett’s vaccine concept incorporated in mRNA-1273 was designed by her team and rapidly deployed to industry partner Moderna, for an FDA approved Phase 1 clinical trial. That trial began only 66 days after the viral sequence release, an unprecedented timeline. Alongside mRNA-1273, Dr. Corbett’s team boasts a portfolio that also includes universal coronavirus vaccine concepts and novel therapeutic antibodies. Additionally, Dr. Corbett has spent several years working on a universal influenza vaccine, which is slated for Phase 1 clinical trial. Along with her research activities, Dr. Corbett is an avid advocator of STEM education and vaccine awareness. #WomenInScience See more

On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we celebrate the #womenscientists at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. Dr. Kathrin Jansen (pictured) is Head of Vaccine Research and Development at Pfizer, and a member of Pfizer’s Worldwide Research and Development leadership team. She led a group of more than 650 people to create Pfizer’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine with German partner BioNTech. Throughout her career, Dr. Jansen has contributed to the prevention of infectious diseases around the world through vaccines that are widely used by people of all ages. She has also led the development of lifesaving vaccines against the human papilloma virus, meningococcal meningitis and pneumococcal pneumonia. #WomenInScience

Since the West African Ebola outbreak from 2013-2016, Africa’s innovators have developed the ability to rapidly scale up testing capacities, coordinate activities at the continental level, and conduct large-scale surveillance and contact tracingall needed to combat COVID-19.

Congratulations Michelle Obama on your new children’s show launching soon on Netflix. In many ways, this show is an extension of my work to support children’s health as First Ladyand to be quite honest, I wish a program like this had been around when my girls were young. I also know that this is a difficult time for so many families, and I’m hopeful that this delightful show can bring a bit of light and laughter to homes around the world. That’s why as part of the show’s commitment to helping families during the pandemic, we’re working with our partners at @PHAnews to get fresh ingredients to families in need across the country so they can cook together at home. So that’s what #WafflesAndMochi is all about. I can’t wait for you and your children to join us on our adventures on March 16.

Today UN Women is hosting a virtual event in celebration of International Youth Day. The event will be a recognition of the contributions and leadership of youth, particularly during these times of COVID-19. Global solidarity will be shared with and from youth activists, leaders, and feminists from across the globe. Co-hosted by international activist Zozibini Tunzi, the virtual celebration will feature artistry and creativity of award-winning performers including dancers a...nd spoken word performers, such as 25 May Movement, Malkia Band, Yvonne H+, Maia Reficco Viqueira, Manizha, Masha Brodskaya and many more. There will be two panel discussions; a Social Justice panel moderated by Jayathma Wickramanayake, United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth and a Peace and Security panel, moderated by Hajer Sharief, human rights advocate and the co-founder of Together we build it. Tune in now! #YouthDay #GenerationEquality See more

Global First Ladies Alliance (GFLA) continues our work in fighting COVID-19 by joining the One by One: Target 2030 UHC Coalition in support of its sub-campaign, One by One: Target COVID-19 which was launched in partnership with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the African Union in April 2020. During this pandemic, the coalition is supporting the African Union in its COVID-19 response by advocating for increased financing for the Africa COVID-19 Respo...nse Fund to strengthen the Africa CDC’s capacity for securing essential diagnostics and medical supplies. GFLA is joining One by One Campaign founders, The Access Challenge and the Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete Foundation to ensure that steps to combat COVID-19 include equitable access to services for the most vulnerable, and that these actions contribute towards a vision for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Africa.

This World Breastfeeding Week, we recognize the impacts of breastfeeding on the first 1,000 days of a child’s life that lays the health foundation for proper development crucial to a person’s productivity later in life. The presence of the Covid-19 pandemic should not compromise breastfeeding. It is important that each of us contribute to advocacy on breastfeeding, establishing concrete actions that guarantee the rapid increase of mothers breastfeeding their babies. I cal...l on fathers to support mothers in this breastfeeding process so that we can guarantee the health and safety of future generations. The first lady of Mozambique, Isaura Nyusi. 45% of mothers in Mozambique do not feed their babies exclusively breast milk in the first six months of life. Breast milk supplies babies with the nutrients they need to defend against the most common causes of child mortality. Maputo Central Hospital has a breast milk bank, the largest in the country, where milk for sick and premature newborns is voluntarily donated. #WorldBreastfeedingWeek See more

This morning an Arria-formula meeting will be held via videoconference discussing Women and the Afghan Peace Process: Ensuring Women’s Participation and Promoting their Rights. It is being co-organised by Afghanistan, Germany, Indonesia and the United Kingdom. The First Lady of Afghanistan Rula (Bibi Gul) Ghani will be the keynote speaker. Mrs. Ghani is a champion for women and their place in the peace process and shaping the future of Afghanistan. I'm in awe of Afghan wo...men. They're very strong women, they're very resilient. Yes, they're going through very difficult periods and their situation is not a very easy one, but you have some extremely strong, articulate, dedicated women at all levels of society. So I usually cringe when I read in the press about "Oh, these poor Afghan women." This is not the way you should describe them. #FirstLadies #WomenLeaders

Earlier today, OAFLAD and The Global Fund hosted a high level webinar inviting discussion on the importance of ensuring that the most vulnerable and stigmatized have access to quality, affordable health services in the context of COVID-19. The pandemic has brought many complex challenges. Monica Geingos, the First Lady of Namibia shared encouraging words about the need to be resilient - how First Ladies as leaders must convey encouragement to give others strength to continue... the work, particularly those those on the frontlines. Neo Jane Masisi, the First Lady of Botswana spoke about the importance of mitigating the shadow pandemic of gender based violence resulting from COVID-19. Other speakers included First Ladies from Zimbabwe, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger, Kenya, Angola, Mozambique, the Central African Republic; as well as Global Fund, Kenya Ambassador to Australia, Women and Global Health, Speak Up Africa and Dr John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC, who said that the COVID battle will be won or lost at the community level and emphasized the need for testing and contact tracing, asking First Ladies for their assistance in focusing attention on those essential tools in the fight to contain the spread of the COVID-19. #FirstLadies #WomenLeaders #COVID19