Media Advisory

 29^TH Ordinary General Assembly of OAFLAD

INVITATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

WHAT: The Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), an advocacy organization uniting African First Ladies to champion health accessibility and empowerment initiatives for women and youth, invites members of the media to its 29th Ordinary General Assembly Open Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 2025. This event, themed “Building on Beijing: First Ladies Championing Women’s Leadership and Rights Through African Heritage”, aims to highlight OAFLAD's achievements, foster awareness, and inspire collective action towards advancing social change.

OAFLAD will be holding the following meetings on the margins of the 38^th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government taking place at the African Union (AU) headquarters:

• 12-13 February 2025: Closed session of the Technical Advisors of the First Ladies
• 14 February 2025: Closed session of the First Ladies Steering Committee members of the OAFLAD
• 15 February 2025: Closed session of the First Ladies  General Assembly
• 16 February 2025: Open Session of the OAFLAD General Assembly 

The General Assembly Open Session will include remarks from the outgoing and newly elected OAFLAD leadership, International and regional partners and First Ladies, presenting their interventions from their respective countries.

These conversations will give the audience a more comprehensive understanding of the OAFLAD’s achievements in the past two years and highlight issues that the organization plans to focus on in 2025. In addition, OAFLAD will use this platform to introduce its new leadership—the President, the Vice President, and the Steering Committee.

OAFLAD is poised to exert a new level of influence and help drive significant change in achieving gender equality by also introducing its new OAFLAD Strategic Framework 2025-2030 expected to be endorsed by the closed session of OAFLAD meetings. This year, OAFLAD has a unique opportunity to leverage the successes of our #WeAreEqual and #WeAreEqualInAction campaigns to inspire sustainable and inclusive development and ensure equal participation of women, youth, and marginalized communities. We invite you to join us as we build a future rooted in equity, collaboration, and resilience.

WHEN:           On Sunday, 16 February 2025, at 08:30 a.m.

WHERE:         African Union Commission (AUC), Old building, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

PARTICIPANTS:       Participants will include: First Ladies of Africa; Commissioner for Health; Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, AU; Representatives of UN agencies; the private sector; donors; and members of civil society and invited personalities.

It is worth noting that,  OAFLAD will host its General Assembly  as a key platform to build awareness and excitement around the Organisation’s achievements and inspire action towards its goal of social change.

For further information please contact:

Mrs. Sharufa Amisi | Communication Lead | OAFLAD | Tel: +243 99 66 22222 | Email: sharufa@oaflad.org

Mrs. Rahel Akalewold | Information and Communication Directorate | Email: rahela@africa-union.org

Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org I Website: http://www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia I Follow Us: Facebook | X/Twitter | Instagram | YouTube