First Lady Margaret Kenyatta was on Monday praised in China for championing women and children health through her initiatives including the Beyond Zero campaign.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Global Executive Director Henrietta Fore, who met the First Lady at the sidelines of the 2018 summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, said she deserves commendation for her work.
Ms Fore affirmed that UNICEF was ready to partner with the First Lady in galvanising support for maternal, newborn and child health care through the Beyond Zero initiative.
The UNICEF boss thanked the First Lady for championing causes that uplifted the lives of women and children, as well as her passion for wildlife conservation.
“You are a wonderful role model with the right spirit and we would like you to consider being our global champion for maternal and new-born children’s health through OAFLA’’ Ms Fore stated.
She added the First Lady’s passion for ending maternal and child deaths were something that could be emulated by other African First Ladies.
A key topic in the meeting was to explore collaboration in championing the cause of young people through the ‘Generation Unlimited’ program endorsed by President Kenyatta and which will be launched on 24th September at this year’s United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) meeting.
On her part, the First Lady expressed interest in supporting UNICEF’s work in maternal and child health through her Beyond Zero Initiative as well as galvanising support from Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA).
‘‘We thank you for what you have done in the past and look forward to more collaboration. I look forward to working with you on your next visit to Kenya and will support your global healthcare interventions for mothers and child,” First Lady Margaret Kenyatta conveyed.
She asserted that the Beyond Zero 2nd Strategic Framework committed to working closely with community health workers as well as nurses through support for specialised training.
The First Lady added that UNICEF has been a supporter of the Beyond Zero initiative as well as Kenya’s wider efforts to promote maternal and child health care.
