Leadership for Health, African First Ladies Health Summit, Los Angeles CA, April 20-21,2009
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Organizing Partners, Hosts
Contact Information

Convened by USDFA and
African Synergy

For more information, contact:
Telephone:
866-663-2613
E-mail:
leadershipsummit@usdfa.org

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Evening Gala
WHO WE ARE

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.

The summit will be convened by African Synergy and USDFA, and hosted by RAND Corporation. Organizing partners include: Packard Foundation, Proctor & Gamble, General Electric, World Health Organization, Vital Voices Global Partnership, White Ribbon Alliance, AllAfrica.com, ONE, and Until There's A Cure. This group of partners looks forward to welcoming the First Ladies and to building greater partnerships around their objectives, as laid out in African Synergy's founding Statute: "strengthening the spirit of co-operation, partnership and collaboration among stakeholders at national, regional and international levels through a new approach and more active solidarity"; and of "pooling our efforts for more concerted and concrete action in order to alleviate suffering and effectively combat HIV/AIDS (and other scourges)". We recognize that this alliance of First Ladies, as active spokeswomen for their people, are most effective in identifying and developing successful programs, and we wish to support their endeavors.

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.

    • African Synergy collaborations to date include the opening of maternal health clinics, HIV treatment centers, orphan care programs and vocational training schools in Guinea, Niger, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Mali and Cameroon; as well as numerous other initiatives and advocacy efforts throughout all 22 member countries.
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    In July 2008, African Synergy approached USDFA to begin a five-year partnership focused on expanding these efforts across the continent. The April 2009 summit will be the first undertaking of this partnership.

    "These first ladies recognize their powerful position as role models, spokeswomen and advocates for their people. Through collaborations with USDFA and the summit's other partner organizations, we believe they can continue to inspire and work towards even greater change in their countries," USDFA Chairman Ted Alemayhu said.