The First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and President, African
\nFirst Ladies Peace Mission, Dame (Dr.) Patience Faka Jonathan, has advised
\nwomen to support their spouses to promote peace in Africa.<\/p>\n
The First Lady gave this charge today when she received the First Lady of
\nthe Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Mrs. Roman Tesfaye Abneh, who paid a
\ncourtesy call on her in the State House Abuja.<\/p>\n
Dame Jonathan lamented that valuable lives are lost annually to armed
\nconflicts in Africa. She said that this adversely affects the human
\nresources needed for development across the continent. She therefore
\nappealed that promoting peace efforts, must be taken with upmost
\nseriousness if the region is to reverse the scourge of armed conflicts and
\nalso stem insurgent activities.<\/p>\n
The First Lady pointed out that one of the underlying factors that
\nprecipitate conflict is the failure of individuals and groups to manage
\nand resolve differences amicably. She advised women to always promote
\ndialogue as a means of settling disputes, cautioning that, women cannot
\nafford to fail, as they must ensure that the African continent is free
\nfrom violence.<\/p>\n
She therefore called on African First Ladies to continue to intensify
\npeace initiatives in their regions, under the auspices of the
\norganization of the African First Ladies Peace Mission.<\/p>\n
She said, \u201cIt is high time for us as African First Ladies to take this
\npeace initiative very seriously because what affects one nation affects
\nthe other. If we fail, we have failed our region, continent and the
\nworld.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dame Jonathan also used the occasion to commend the First Lady of Ethiopia
\non her women empowerment initiatives, as well as her efforts on HIV\/AIDS
\nand cancer prevention, across communities in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n
Speaking earlier, Mrs. Roman Abneh, observed that there was a lot to learn
\nfrom Nigeria on women mobilization and empowerment. She described Dame
\nJonathan as a \u201crole model,\u201d especially in these two areas. Mrs. Abneh,
\nalso lauded Dame Jonathan\u2019s contributions to the Organization of African
\nFirst Ladies Against HIV\/AIDS (OAFLA) and most especially, for her
\nprogrammes promoting peace\u00a0 across the region. While highlighting her own
\nprogrammes on the prevention of cancer and HIV, promotion of good
\nnutrition and primary education, the Ethiopian First Lady said she was
\nwilling to explore areas of collaboration with Dame Jonathan in these
\nareas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and President, African First Ladies Peace Mission, Dame (Dr.) Patience Faka Jonathan, has advised women to support their spouses to promote…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n