{"id":77461,"date":"2016-02-19T04:30:30","date_gmt":"2016-02-19T04:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierraexpressmedia.com\/?p=77461"},"modified":"2016-02-19T04:30:30","modified_gmt":"2016-02-19T04:30:30","slug":"sierra-leones-first-lady-joins-7-other-first-ladies-in-launching-the-oafla-all-in-campaign-to-stem-adolescent-hivaids-in-accra-ghana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/?p=77461","title":{"rendered":"Sierra Leone\u2019s First Lady joins 7 other First Ladies in launching the OAFLA \u2018All-In\u2019 Campaign to Stem Adolescent HIV\/AIDS in Accra, Ghana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sierra Leone\u2019s First Lady, H.E. Sia Nyama Koroma (in photo) responded to the invitation of her colleague and sister, H.E. Dr. Nana Dramani Mahawa, First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, who is the current President of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV\/AIDS (OAFLA) by attending the 7th<\/sup> Africa Conference on Sexual and Health Rights, 9-10 February, 2016.\u00a0\u00a0 H.E. the First Lady also participated actively in the launching of OAFLA\u2019s \u2018All-In-Campaign Against Adolescent HIV\/AIDS on 11th February, 2016. Eight First Ladies, from Chad, Cote d\u2019Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Mali and Sierra Leone were in attendance and First Ladies from the Burkina Faso, Gambia, Madagascar, Rwanda and Swaziland sent representatives.\u00a0 The First Lady of Ghana used the opportunity to also launch Ghana\u2019s Initiative on Ending Child Marriage by 2020 on 10th<\/sup> February, 2016.<\/p>\n

The opening ceremony of the impressive four day event was graced by H.E. John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana who declared the conference open. His statement was preceded by an opening statement that was delivered by the First Lady of Ghana.\u00a0 H.E. Nana Lordina Dramani Mahama emphasised the need for healthy, educated and skilled adolescents and youth, especially girls, so that African countries could reap the demographic dividend, a new development concept that has been introduced by UNFPA.\u00a0 She called on African countries to invest in the health of young adolescents and to provide an environment that is open and free for discussion and to avail adolescents with access to sexual and reproductive services and accurate information.\u00a0 She ended her remark by stating that ignoring the youth will leave them open to vices such as lawlessness and extremism.<\/p>\n

Other speakers included Dr. Sidiki Kalokoh, Commissioner for Social Affairs at the African Union, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA and a representative of the Executive Director of UNAIDS.\u00a0 All the speakers commended the African First Ladies for their hard work in the health sector in particular, both in their home countries and within OAFLA, itself.\u00a0 In one refrain, all the speakers called for an expanded role for OAFLA beyond, HIV\/AIDS.\u00a0 This call was also echoed by H.E. President John Dramani Mahama who stated that the African Union must give this expanded role for African First ladies serious thought because African First Ladies have played key pivotal roles in development under the auspices of OAFLA and in their home countries that have impacted the lives of many segments of the population.<\/p>\n

H.E. Sia Nyama Koroma delivered a statement on sexual and reproductive health in Sierra Leone with a focus on adolescent HIV\/AIDS.\u00a0 She outlined the gender dimensions of the Ebola Virus Disease and its disproportionate impact on women and young girls which was directly related to their unequal access to health care services.\u00a0 The First Lady then explained that adolescents\u2019 needs have to be addressed because they make up significant percentage of the global population, quoting several reliable sources and authentic reports that assert that the following: young people aged 10-24 years make up 1.8 billion of the world\u2019s population,\u00a0 9 out of 10 of them live in less developing countries which includes most sub-Saharan countries and 1.2 billion of the world\u2019s population are adolescents ranging from ages 10-19 years, making them 18% of our global population.\u00a0 The First Lady stated that out of Sierra Leone\u2019s almost 6 million population, 30% are young people between the ages of 15-35.\u00a0 She also asserted that our national governments have a huge responsibility towards this growing young population because they represent an untapped resource waiting to be harnessed from which our countries can reap a huge dividend if they are harnessed properly, based on findings from UNFPA.<\/p>\n

H.E. the First Lady then proceeded to outline the status of HIV\/AIDS in Sierra Leone and referred to the co-relation between high HIV prevalence and early sexual activity.\u00a0 She presented statistics from Sierra Leone\u2019s National AIDS Secretariat confirming a drop in condom use by adolescent girls, leaving them more vulnerable to HIV and other sexually transmissible infections.\u00a0 She alluded to rise in teenage pregnancy during the 14 month Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone which confirms the lack of condom use by adolescents although, the inability to access family planning services during the outbreak could also have been a contributing factor in this case.\u00a0 H.E. Sia Nyama Koroma mentioned the launching of 4,000 Duo HIV\/Syphilis Rapid test kits that had been donated to Sierra Leone by Alere, a partner to OAFLA.\u00a0 She announced that Alere has donated an additional 10,000 Duo HIV\/Syphilis Rapid test kits to Sierra Leone following their meeting at the recent African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia earlier on in February, 2016.\u00a0 She stated that these rapid test kits will contribute towards saving lives of mothers and children as well as the adolescent population in particular.<\/p>\n

The First Lady then catalogued all her activities and initiatives relating to HIV\/AIDs in Sierra Leone since her inception as First Lady in 2007.\u00a0 Many of these activities included advocacy work in collaboration with the National AIDS Secretariat and donor partners on the prevention of HIV\/AIDs and against the stigmatisation of persons living with HIV\/AIDs and the donation of much needed supplies to HIV\/AIDs mothers.\u00a0 She mentioned her support to the Network of HIV Positives in Sierra Leone and the Voice of Women, a group of HIV positive women.\u00a0 The First Lady has laid out her work on early marriage and teenage pregnancy, all of which are geared towards ensuring that the girl child and adolescent girls in particular complete primary and secondary education, thereby bridging the gender inequality gap in access to education.<\/p>\n

In her concluding words, H.E. the First Lady called on her colleague African First Ladies and members of OAFLA, to live up to our commitment to the international community by working closely with these institutions to achieve zero HIV transmission by 2030. \u00a0She stated in that \u2018this is the time to act\u2019. <\/strong>\u00a0She implored the African First Ladies to work steadfastly within OAFLA and in our home countries to ensure that they advocate for stronger national policies and strategies that will place adolescent sexual and reproductive health and HIV in the adolescent segment of our population, firmly on national political agendas. \u00a0She quoted UNAIDs\u2019s aim to \u2018spur concrete action and mobilise resources\u2019 <\/strong>that will lead our countries to zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS related deaths.<\/p>\n

Side Events:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Following the opening of the conference, a State Banquet was held on 10th<\/sup> February, 2016 at which the African First Ladies were guests of honour.\u00a0 It was during this dinner that the Government of Ghana launched an Ending Child Marriage Initiative.\u00a0 The African First Ladies also opened the OAFLA Ghana exhibition which depicted the achievements of OAFLA Member States in their countries under the leadership of the First Ladies.\u00a0 The high point of the side events was the visit to Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Museum.\u00a0 H.E. the First Lady of Sierra Leone was asked to lay a wreath on behalf of her colleagues and was joined by the First Ladies of Kenya and Mali who also laid wreaths.\u00a0 H.E. Sia Nyama Koroma, First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone and H.E. Margaret Kenyatta, First Lady of the Republic of Ghana joined their host and colleague, the First Lady of Ghana at the closing ceremony of the conference on 12th<\/sup> February, 2016.<\/p>\n

H.E. Sia Nyama Koroma took time off to visit the Dialysis Centre at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital which is affiliated with the University of Ghana. The aim of the visit was to fully understand the challenges in running a Dialysis Centre.<\/p>\n

The First Lady\u2019s delegation included Madam Finda Koroma, Legal Counsel and Technical Adviser, Mrs Florence Katta, Mr. Manfred Peters, Ms. Rugiatu Bangura and security personnel.\u00a0 Ms. Fiona Kai-Ka from UNFPA was also part of the delegation.<\/p>\n

Office of the First Lady of Sierra Leone, State Lodge, Freetown<\/em><\/p>\n

Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sierra Leone\u2019s First Lady, H.E. Sia Nyama Koroma (in photo) responded to the invitation of her colleague and sister, H.E. Dr. Nana Dramani Mahawa, First […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":77462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[671,751,10,11448,673],"tags":[6795,20997,20998,11255,20999,17604,849],"class_list":["post-77461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-global-news","category-health","category-local-news","category-national-news","tag-first-lady-of-sierra-leone","tag-he-sia-nyama-koroma","tag-nana-dramani-mahawa","tag-oafla","tag-organisation-of-african-first-ladies-against-hivaids","tag-president-john-dramani-mahama","tag-sia-nyama-koroma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}