Queen Mathilde of Belgium in Ghana to champion SDGs

Queen Mathilde of Belgium arrived in Ghana on Wednesday to begin a three-day state visit.

The Belgian Royal, who is a United Nations Advocate for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's), is expected to leverage the visit to assess the implementation of the SDG's in Ghana.

She was met on arrival at the Jubilee Lounge of the Kotoka International Airport by Prof. George Gyan-Baffour, the Minister of Planning, and some senior government officials.

Queen Mathilde would be visiting local projects aimed at empowering women, giving access to quality education for girls and improving health care.

She would also join President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to deliver a lecture on the topic: The SDGs- A Transformative Agenda for the Future we Want, at the University of Ghana, Legon on Friday, February 9, 2018.

She would be received and hosted to a working lunch at the Flagstaff House on the same Friday, by the President.

She was accompanied by the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation, Alexander De Croo.

According to a report carried by the UK Express, in 2001, the Queen set up the Princess Mathilde Fund (now the Queen Mathilde fund), which promotes the care of vulnerable people.

Since 2009, Queen Mathilde has been the honorary president of UNICEF Belgium and serves as the World Health Organisation’s Special Representative for Immunisation.

The Queen focuses her attention in the fight against abduction and all forms of sexual abuse and is Honorary President of Child Focus and the Foundation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children.

Queen Mathilde has also undertaken a number of humanitarian missions, mainly in Africa.

She has been married to King Philippe of the Belgium since December 1999.