Nkechinyere Ewa-Okpara
The wives of Nigerian governors, known as First Ladies, have collectively endorsed the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Gavi Initiative.
The women also maintained their commitment to sustained advocacy for HPV vaccine uptake to protect girls’ health in Nigeria.
These were contained in a communique raised at the end of their meeting in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital Thursday.
The wives of the governors led by Ambassador Professor Olufolake Abdulrazaq, Chairperson Nigeria Governors Wives Forum are in Ebonyi in hour of the Ebonyi 2024 Women’s Day celebration cum visit of the wife of the president this Friday,
Ambassador Professor Olufolake Abdulrazaq, while presenting the communique, said their next line of action was selective sensitization of wives of local government chairmen in the country.
She noted that their gathering in Ebonyi “was a testament to the commitment of these remarkable women to unity, collaboration, progress, and development in the service of their states and the nation as a whole. At the end of the meeting, the following resolutions were made.
“The forum affirms yet again its unwavering resolve to keep up the fight against sexual and gender-based violence in their various states.
“The First Ladies have collectively endorsed the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Gavi Initiative, committing to sustained advocacy for HPV vaccine uptake to protect our girl’s health.
“The next line of action is a selective sensitization of wives of local government chairmen on HPV vaccine and cancer awareness.
“The First Ladies have pledged to vigorously advocate for adopting six months of paid maternity leave, engaging executive governors and state legislators to promote this policy across all states for improved maternity and child welfare.
“The meeting stood up to observe a minute silence for late colleague, the late First Lady of Akwa Ibom state, and ended this meeting at 6:30 pm. This meeting was attended by 23 First Ladies”.