Ghana’s First Lady Outlines Vision for Health, Education, and Women’s Empowerment at 30th OAFLAD Assembly

Introduction: A Strategic Call to Action on the AU Summit Margins

On the margins of the African Union (AU) Summit, the 30th Assembly of the Organization of African First Ladies for Development and Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLAD) served as a critical platform for high-level advocacy and partnership-building. Her Excellency Rebecca Akufo-Addo, First Lady of Ghana and a prominent OAFLAD member, delivered a pivotal address outlining the comprehensive, evidence-based work of her office and the Lordina Foundation. Her presentation transcended a simple report, instead articulating a holistic, multi-sectoral model for sustainable development centered on the pillars of health, education, and women’s economic empowerment. This strategy directly aligns with the continental agenda of OAFLAD, which champions the health and socio-economic advancement of women and children across Africa. The speech underscored that investing in these three interconnected areas is not merely charitable but is a fundamental economic imperative for building resilient families, communities, and nations. This article provides a detailed, structured analysis of the key points, strategic background, and actionable insights from that important observation, contextualizing Ghana’s approach within broader African development goals.

Key Points: The Three-Pillar Strategic Framework

The core of the First Lady’s address was a clear, actionable framework focusing intensification on three vital sectors as Ghana advances toward 2026 and beyond. This framework represents a lifecycle approach, addressing foundational needs from maternal health through childhood development to adult economic self-sufficiency.

Pillar 1: Universal Access to Quality Health Care

The cornerstone of the foundation’s work remains health. The strategy prioritizes preventive care and early intervention through:

• Free National Medical Screening: Conducting comprehensive, no-cost screening, examination, counseling, and treatment for underserved communities unable to afford healthcare.
• Targeted Disease Intervention: Partnering with the Ghana AIDS Commission for large-scale HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B testing and counseling in regions like Greater Accra and Bono.
• Maternal and Child Health: Providing free antenatal education, safe delivery promotion, breast and eye screening, and general check-ups.
• Infrastructure Development: Building and renovating maternity and children’s wards (e.g., in Bole, Nkroransa, Bodom, Asukoko) and donating critical equipment like hospital beds, incubators, and ultrasound machines.
• Dignity for Vulnerable Groups: Initiating quarterly health screenings for retired pastors and their spouses, addressing a specific demographic’s health and dignity.
• Continental Leadership: Hosting fellow First Ladies at the 2024 ICASA Conference with UNAIDS, WHO, and UNFPA to focus on preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Future Direction: Expanding outreach to hard-to-reach communities, enhancing facility upgrades, and collaborating with the Ghana Medical Trust Fund to cover treatments outside the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Pillar 2: Educational Scholarships and Retention for Girls

Recognizing education as the unlocker of potential, the foundation’s efforts focus on retaining bright but underprivileged girls in the educational system:

• Merit-Based Support: Providing scholarships that cover uniforms, stationery, and other ancillary costs to remove financial barriers to education.
• Strategic Partnership: Collaborating with the Merck Foundation to launch and scale the education scholarship program, currently supporting 40 junior high school girls.
• Long-Term Vision: Ensuring every girl with proper support becomes a leader, change-maker, and national builder.

Pillar 3: Economic Empowerment and Livelihood Security for Women

Economic independence is framed as the key to uplifting entire families and communities. The approach combines skills training with access to tools and markets:

• Artisanal Support: Providing tools and equipment to trained hair dressers and dressmakers to start or grow their businesses.
• SME Development: Planning to empower women in small and medium-scale enterprises in 2026, helping them build growth milestones and sustainable enterprises.
• Policy Alignment: Syncing with national initiatives like the proposed 24-hour economy and the Women Development Bank to ensure women access financial backing.
• Skills Training: Introducing foundational training in beading, advanced hairdressing, and practical trades.
• Digital Economy Focus: Emphasizing that the digital world offers vast opportunities with proper knowledge and tools.

Background: OAFLAD, the Lordina Foundation, and Ghana’s Development Context

To fully appreciate the significance of this address, one must understand the institutional and national landscape.

About OAFLAD

The Organization of African First Ladies for Development and Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLAD) is a continental body established to leverage the unique platform of First Ladies to advocate for policies and programs that improve the health and socio-economic status of women, children, and youth across Africa. Its work is closely tied to the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 5 (Gender Equality). The 30th Assembly, held during the AU Summit, is a key moment for aligning national initiatives with continental strategy.

The Lordina Foundation: A National Implementation Arm

The Lordina Foundation, named after the First Lady, serves as the primary vehicle for her philanthropic and development work in Ghana. It operates with a focus on four thematic areas: health, education, women’s empowerment, and poverty alleviation. Its model is characterized by direct service delivery (medical outreaches), infrastructure investment (building hospitals), strategic partnerships (with UN agencies and corporate bodies like Merck), and policy advocacy.

Ghana’s Socio-Economic and Health Challenges

The First Lady’s focus areas respond to persistent national challenges. Despite progress, Ghana faces:

• Maternal and Child Health: Addressing gaps in access to quality obstetric care, especially in rural areas, to reduce maternal mortality ratios.
• HIV/AIDS and Infectious Diseases: Continuing the fight against HIV, with a focus on eliminating mother-to-child transmission and reducing stigma.
• Gender-Based Economic Disparity: Women often have limited access to capital, land, and skills training, constraining their economic participation.
• Girl-Child Education: Poverty and cultural factors can lead to high dropout rates for girls, particularly at the junior high school level.

The foundation’s work is therefore a targeted intervention within this challenging context, aiming to complement government efforts under the Ghana Beyond Aid and Ghana Vision 2050 frameworks.

Analysis: The Integrated Model for Sustainable Development

The First Lady’s presentation reveals a sophisticated understanding of development interdependence. The three pillars are not isolated projects but are designed to be mutually reinforcing, creating a virtuous cycle.

The Health-Education-Economy Nexus

Analysis shows a deliberate causal linkage:

1. Health as Foundational: A healthy mother is more likely to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy child. Healthy children attend school regularly and perform better. Healthy women can participate in the workforce and economic activities. The foundation’s free screenings and maternity ward constructions directly attack barriers to this foundation.
2. Education as the Catalyst: Educated girls are more likely to marry later, have fewer and healthier children, and earn higher incomes. The scholarships program prevents the “pipeline leak” of talented girls dropping out, ensuring a future generation of educated women who can make informed health and economic decisions.
3. Economic Power as the Enabler: When a woman controls her income, she invests more in her family’s health, nutrition, and education than men do on average. Economic empowerment programs provide the means for women to afford healthcare, keep their children in school, and withstand economic shocks, thereby breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty.

Strategic Partnership and Government Alignment

The model’s strength lies in its collaborative nature. The foundation does not seek to replace the state but to supplement and accelerate government programs. Partnerships with:

• Technical Agencies (UNAIDS, WHO, UNFPA): Provide global expertise, standards, and sometimes co-funding, ensuring interventions meet international best practices.
• Government Bodies (Ghana AIDS Commission, Ghana Medical Trust Fund): Ensure alignment with national health strategies and leverage public systems for wider reach and sustainability.
• Corporate Foundations (Merck Foundation): Bring in resources and specialized programs (like the “Merck for Mothers” initiative) for scalable impact.
• Policy Initiatives (24-hour economy, Women Development Bank): This shows a keen awareness that individual empowerment must be supported by an enabling macroeconomic and financial environment. The foundation acts as a bridge, preparing women to access these future systems.

Addressing Systemic Barriers: Stigma and Access

The speech explicitly mentions fighting stigma, particularly against people with HIV and AIDS. This is a critical, often overlooked, systemic barrier. Stigma prevents people from seeking testing and treatment, undermining public health goals. By integrating counseling and promoting compassion within community health outreaches, the foundation tackles this socio-cultural barrier. Similarly, by building facilities in specific locations (Bole, Nkroransa) and planning for hard-to-reach communities, the foundation addresses geographic and infrastructure barriers to access.

Practical Advice: Replicable Insights for Stakeholders

The Ghanaian model offers valuable lessons for NGOs, policymakers, other First Ladies’ offices, and development partners.

For NGOs and Civil Society Organizations

• Adopt a Lifecycle Approach: Design programs that address needs at different life stages (maternal health, girl-child education, women’s economic activity) rather than single-issue projects.
• Prioritize Partnerships Over Duplication: Map existing government and UN agency programs. Seek to fill gaps, provide complementary services (like equipment donation), or pilot innovations that can be scaled by the state.
• Integrate Stigma Reduction: Any health program, especially for HIV, TB, or mental health, must include community sensitization and counseling components to be effective.
• Focus on “Hidden” Vulnerable Groups: The initiative for retired pastors shows the importance of identifying and serving specific demographic groups that may fall through the cracks of social protection.

For Policymakers and Government Agencies

• Leverage the First Lady’s Platform: The Office of the First Lady can be a powerful force for advocacy, resource mobilization, and community mobilization on sensitive or priority issues. Formal mechanisms for collaboration can amplify national programs.
• Create Enabling Environments: Initiatives like