African First Ladies end meeting

Accra, July 2, GNA - The Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) on Tuesday ended their Fifth Ordinary General Assembly on an inconclusive noted due to time constraints. The Assembly therefore agreed to call another meeting as early as possible at a date yet to be decided and communicated to members to enable them to conclude the agenda.

Mrs Maureen Mwanawasa, President of OAFLA, said it was very likely that the next meeting, which was not expected to be run alongside the next Africa Union Summit, would be held in Ethiopia. "We have all agreed here that our meetings should not necessarily be held alongside that of our spouses and that is what we are going to do. But the time, date and venue to conclude today's agenda would be communicated to members as early as possible," she said. She urged the OAFLA secretariat to work on the Minutes as early as possible for the new date to be sent.

Nigeria's First Lady, Turai Yar'dua was officially admitted to the organization, which presently has 40 members.

On July 2002, 37 African First Ladies and representative gathered in Geneva for a special meeting where they created OAFLA in response to the call to action from both the African Summit on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other related infectious diseases. The ladies have since meet on an annual basis to chart the way forward in the fight against the menace.