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Michael Magoronga – [email protected]

First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa is in Tanzania for the 11th Edition of the Merck Foundation Africa-Asia Luminary conference where she is one of the keynote speakers and is expected to share experiences with other first ladies on issues to do with health care, child marriages, gender-based violence among other social vices.

Dr Mnangagwa is part of the 15 first ladies from African and Asian countries who spearhead “More than a Mother” in their respective countries as they seek to address social vices in their respective countries.

Through her Angel of Hope Campaign, Dr Mnangagwa, who is accompanied by Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Sleiman Kwidini, has made significant achievements in addressing social ills among them child marriages, teen pregnancies, drug and substance abuse and gender-based violence through many initiatives.

Her philanthropic work has seen her donating to different institutions and formulating concepts like the nhanga/gota concept, cancer fight initiatives, school feeding programs, and widows’ initiatives which have seen her go around the country educating the nation and raising awareness of the issues affecting the community.

It has also earned her global recognition as witnessed by her constant invitations to speak at global forums sharing her experiences with the global community.

Being attended by 15 First Ladies from African and Asian countries, more than 400 delegates from about 17 countries gather physically in Tanzania, and about 6,000 participants from 70 countries are expected to follow the annual conference online.

Dr Mnangagwa is expected to be one of the first keynote speakers to take to the podium where she is expected to share her experiences on her journey in raising awareness on a wide range of critical social and health issues like supporting girls’ education, ending child marriage, stopping gender-based violence, breaking infertility stigma, women’s empowerment and diabetes and hypertension awareness among other issues.

In her opening remarks, Merck Foundation CEO, Senator Dr Rasha Kelej the conference aims to discuss strategies and solutions for the health and social challenges in respective countries safely and effectively.

“Our aim is to improve access to quality and equitable healthcare solutions and build healthcare capacity in many critical and underserved medical fields,” she said.

The conference marks the celebrations of the 7th anniversary of the establishment of Merck Foundation and the 12th anniversary of the development programs which started back in 2012.