Nigeria’s first lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, the outgoing president of theAfrica First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM), has tasked the newly elected President of the Mission Angelina Ndayishimiye, of Burundi to make efforts towards consolidating peace building on the continent.
Ndayishimiye is expected to take over from Buhari as the new president of AFLPM on May 29.
Buhari who was speaking during the 10th General Assembly Summit of the Mission held in Abuja, said the escalating conflicts in most African countries resulted in serious humanitarian crisis, hence the need for concerted efforts towards peace building.
The first lady urged the newly elected President to strengthen advocacy towards mitigating the effect of humanitarian crisis, the negative impact of conflict and its devastating consequences on women and children in Africa.
She said, developmental strides have always being a challenge in countries that witnessed violent conflict.
“Peace building efforts are currently ongoing to find a natural solution to the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where women and children have lived the harsh effects of the conflicts.
“Another humanitarian window has been exposed with the eruption of violence in Sudan, So, all Hands must be on deck to ensure that the problem is not allowed to escalate and we must engage relevant stakeholders to tackle the situation“
Buhari also used the opportunity to highlight her achievements as President of the Africa First Ladies Peace Mission.
She said the achievement includes the construction of new permanent secretariat of the AFLPM as well as amendment of a new draft of the charter for the mission.
“During the 9th General Assembly and my subsequent election as President, I urged all members to support me in achieving the core mandate of the mission.
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Where I promised to construct a befitting Secretariat for the mission in Abuja; leading to a successful resource mobilisation, afterward a draft charter of the mission was circulated for members to make their inputs“ she said.
She said the AFLPM has provided humanitarian support to victims of disaster in some countries in need.
“Considering the pressure on first ladies occasioned by humanitarian crisis in many countries across Africa, the mission embarked on the distribution of educational materials, nutritional food items aim at supporting their efforts.
“The items donated include rice books, nutritional packs for malnourished children and other essential commodities as well as supplying 10,000 blankets to victims Earthquake on behalf of the African first ladies in Turkey“ she said.
She therefore expressed appreciation to Nigerian Government, African Union and other development partners for their support to the success of her tenure as President of AFLPM.
The event also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the African Union and the Africa First Ladies Peace Mission to ensure effective coordination and support towards peace building on the continent.
On her part, the Vice President of Liberia, Jewel Tailor, expressed the need for first ladies to strengthen advocacy towards peace building and conflict resolution in Africa.
According to her, women and children are mostly affected by the conflict in Africa.
The event had in attendance first ladies and their representatives across the African continent.
