Luanda - Angola's First Lady, Ana Dias Lourenço, on Monday in Abuja, Nigeria, called for redoubled efforts to improve literacy and catch up on the schooling of African girls, with special attention to those in rural areas.
Ana Dias Lourenço was speaking at the launch of the WeAreEqual Campaign, promoted by her Nigerian counterpart, Oluremi Tinubu, as part of the activities of the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OPDAD).
“We must step up our advocacy role to promote literacy and catch up on girls’ schooling, with special attention to those in rural areas”, she said.
To her, it is urgent to promote trust, security and stability by creating safe, secure and stable environments.
At the same time, he said that it is necessary to sensitise young people to the significant progress towards the development and growth of the “Africa we want”, she added.
Addressing her African counterparts, the Angolan First Lady recalled that to this end Angola is since 2021 implementing the project on Girl Empowerment and Learning for All, nationwide.
She explained that the project, which involves around nine million students in pre-school, primary and secondary schools, aims to train teachers and school managers, as well as supporting strategies to promote the empowerment of girls by improving the education system.
The ceremony in the Nigerian capital city which runs under the topic “'Education as a Powerful Tool for Change: no girl is left behind”.
The event was attended by the First Ladies of Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Gambia, Lesotho, Kenya, Burundi and Gabon, as well as senior Nigerian government officials and other guests.
Read below the full message from the Angolan First Lady:
Excellency First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Mrs Oluremi Tinubu,
Honourable First Ladies
Zimbabwe - Mrs Auxilia C. Mnangagwa
Mozambique - Mrs Isaura Ferraro Nyusi
Gambia - Mrs Fatoumata Bah - Barrow
Lesotho - Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso
Kenya - Mrs Rachel Ruto
Burundi - Mrs Angeline Ndayubaha
Gabon - Mrs Zita Oligui Nguema
Honourable Officials of the Federal Government of Nigeria
Dear Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Let me begin by thanking you for inviting me to participate in the celebration of the Launch of the #WeAreEqual Unification Campaign of the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD).
Allow me to greet the dear sisters, Your Excellencies the First Ladies and the different delegations, and the guests present at this great event taking place in this welcoming city of Abuja.
I especially extend words of appreciation and recognition to dear sister Senator Oluremi Tinubu, First Lady of Nigeria, for driving the inclusion of girls in education, ensuring the achievement of Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), related to inclusive and equitable education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Angola has been rising from the heavy burden of war, which postponed its people's opportunities for human and social development for many years. With the achievement of peace in 2002, the government has made many efforts to implement public policies and carry out actions, programmes and projects that boost the country's inclusive and sustainable development.
With this in mind, it has made a serious commitment to reducing the inequalities between men and women imposed by structural sexism, social stereotypes and patriarchal structures rooted in cultural and traditional issues.
We realise that we still face many obstacles that hinder and prevent women in Angola and throughout Africa from developing their full potential, the lack of human and material resources in some communities, the various forms of violence and abuse against women and limited access to education, particularly girls' education.
Dear First Ladies, dear sisters.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The challenges are still huge, despite the evolution of African societies towards greater justice, inclusion and awareness of the need for greater female representation in all areas of social, economic and political life.
However, greater investment in people, in quality education, with increased access to pre-school and secondary education, especially for girls, is essential so that, with determination and vision, we can effectively, men and women, contribute to the sustainability of our development with an innovative outlook and an unwavering commitment to the well-being of communities. Given this reality, education is vital for the future of any country.
In Angola we treat education as a key sector to value human capital. We take particular care with girls' education, because to educate a woman is to educate a nation.
In this regard, my dear sisters, I believe that we must strengthen our role as advocates for literacy and catching up on the schooling of girls, with special attention to those in rural areas.
We urgently need to promote trust, security and stability by creating safe, secure and stable environments and sensitise young people to the significant progress in the development and growth of the Africa we want.
Dear Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
In Angola, at the different levels of education, there are still differences between men and women, and the government has made a serious commitment to reducing this gap. I remember when I was Minister for Planning and then as a member of the Board of Directors of the World Bank Group (WBG), we started working with this institution to support Angola in overcoming the challenges we were facing in terms of low learning results and gender disparity, especially in secondary education, girls dropping out of school for various reasons such as early pregnancy, difficulties with health care, distance from home to school or socially unfavourable family backgrounds.
This is how the Girl Empowerment and Learning for All Project was designed and has been implemented since 2021. It's a project that involves around 9 million students in pre-school, primary and secondary schools across the country.
The project aims to train teachers and school managers, support strategies to promote girls' empowerment by improving the education system and access to education, empowering girls and young women and giving them the opportunity to enrol and complete at least secondary education.
The main activities of the project are aimed at improving the quality of education, promoting access to education, reducing the school drop-out rate among girls and facilitating the return of teenage mothers to school, raising awareness about sexual and reproductive education and gender-based violence with the ultimate aim of empowering young people, reducing the vulnerability of adolescents and young people, empowering young people and equipping them with competences and life skills.
Complementary actions to this project to guarantee the health, education and well-being of adolescents and young people have been developed by the authorities in my country, in particular by the Ministry of Education with the support of the Ministry of Health, with a view to responding to the problem of children with an age-grade gap, reducing school drop-outs, in particular girls who leave school before completing compulsory education due to early pregnancy: the main cause of a high number of school drop-outs.
On the other hand, policy measures have been adopted such as the Internal Scholarship system, which covers vulnerable girls from the various regions of the country, to guarantee access to school; retention with school meals; health and school environment; sexual education, gender and reproductive health; promotion of sport and other activities to ensure the inclusion of girls in school.
Allow me to share some figures and facts that illustrate the Angolan government's commitment to inclusive and equitable education and to promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all:
- In 3 years it has been possible to correct the gap of 3,216,489 pupils, of which 2,536,412 are female;
- Since 2021, 10,357 primary and secondary school teachers have been trained in menstrual health, and more than 30,000 teenagers have benefited from information on the subject, with 15,000 menstrual pants distributed;
- In the last 4 years, 21,000 menstrual briefs have been distributed.
In the last four years, 21,244 secondary school scholarships have been distributed, of which 10,729 were for girls;
- In recent years, 1,098 primary and secondary schools have been built and rehabilitated. With the project to empower girls and learning for all, the construction of 55 new schools and the rehabilitation of 7 schools are expected to begin in 2024.
- Angola's commitment to teacher training in education and menstrual health has shown positive results and was honoured at the gala celebrating the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Population Fund's (UNFPA) safeguarding adolescents and young people programme, having been ranked 1st in the category of menstrual health in 5th and 6th grade in the southern region.
Dear Sisters
Dear Participants
As a citizen, I have always fought for the freedom and dignity of peoples and for gender equality, now as First Lady and with my Ngana Zenza Foundation for Community Development (FDC), I remain committed to these causes and to improving the quality and expansion of education and the empowerment of our girls and boys in the communities, through 7 initiatives aimed at women, young people, in particular young women from various segments of our society as agents of change and influence in their communities.
To conclude, I would once again like to salute the “We are All Equal” Campaign for the fact that gender issues and gender parity in leadership continue to be the subject of our action. Angola embraces the Campaign and will soon launch it. I wish my dear sisters, the First Ladies and everyone present much health, peace and love and I hope we can be together again as soon as possible. Together we will continue to advocate for the promotion of educational programmes in Africa in the “year 2024, seeking to revive existing efforts to fully achieve Goal 4 of the SDGs”.
Cheers
Thank you very much for your attention!
MRA/jmc
