The Vice President, Aja Dr Isatou Njie Saidy, on Tuesday 1 April, on behalf of the First Lady of the Gambia, Madam Zainab Yahya Jammeh, presided over the opening ceremony of an international conference on the vision 2010 First Ladies Initiative, being hosted by the Gambia. This initiative was inaugurated in Bamako, Mali, by First Ladies of West and Central Africa, in the year 2001, and it has two main objectives; to reduce Maternal and Neonatal Mortality by 50% and to reduce Maternal and Neonatal Morbidity by 30%, all by the year 2010.

The conference, being held at the Sheraton Hotel in Brufut, is the sixth annual review progress of the initiative, and it is expected to last for four days.

According to the chairperson of the occasion, the Permanent Secretary, Department of State for Health and Social Welfare, Mr Sulayman Samba, the Gambia subscribes to the Millennium declarations and the Millennium Development Projects, and as such, it was appropriate that the first Lady of the Gambia committed herself and the Gambian nation in such a noble initiative.

Mr Samba said that the significance of the objectives of the initiative meant that they at the Department of State for Health and Social Welfare collaborate with the office of the First Lady in organizing the conference.

In his welcoming statement, Dr Malick Njie, Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare, dilated on the great importance attached to the initiative and the Gambia government’s unflinching resolve on its realization. But it wasn’t until he declared that the gathering observed a minute’s silence in remembrance of the late Director General of the Prisons, who passed away earlier that morning.

SOS Dr Njie reminded participants that this was the 6th meeting of the regional follow up and action committee, members of which committee, he said, were drawn from a diverse sector of the society; "government officials, parliamentarians, as well as our development partners, among others, from across West and Central Africa." The main objective of this meeting, Dr Njie went on, was to measure the progress registered during the course of year.

He said that the level of advocacy exerted by the First Lady of the Gambia, Madam Zainab Jammeh, had been amply demonstrated by the outcomes of her undertakings.

The First Lady, he revealed, kick started the Operation Save a Baby initiative by making the first blood donation. The SOS also cited the fact that the Gambian leader has gone on to declare a free maternal and child care services in the Gambia. He hoped that before we got to the target date of 2010, with current progressive trend, the Gambia will have gone beyond the target of 51%.

A representative of the UN system, the UNDP residence representative to the Gambia, Mr Malcom Dutty, also delved on the importance of the initiative, of which he said all indications are that there is strong backing.

He hailed the Gambian Vice President, whom he said was dedicated to women’s affairs.

Mr Dutty said that the UN system brings together global experiences in dealing with issues of these nature; food security, reproductive health, etc.

" We are all aware of this fact that when a girl child is educated it improves the health situation of a whole family", the UNDP Boss lamented. Professor Amadou Dollo, who is said to be involved in the implementation of the programs, made an eye catching powerful point presentation.

For her part, Professor Angela Okolo, another key participant during the deliberations in the coming days, introduced the gathering to the objectives of the conference, among are: assessing the achievement made, and mounting a critical examination of the domain. "We are here to start off a review of what has been done so far, what the individual countries have done since the last meeting in Kotonu, Benin."

Madam Okolo also posited that they were also set to examine the areas of need for the individual countries, as well as sharing successfully their experiences, and document the best practices for the reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality.

In her opening statement, on behalf of the First Lady of the Gambia, Aja Dr Isatou Njie Saidy, the Vice President of the Republic of the Gambia, pleaded for the understanding of the gathering for the unavoidable absence of the First Lady. She extended Her Excellency’s regards for Gambia to have been chosen to host this gathering, as well as her husband, President Jammeh’s appreciation for the effort of all in and sundry making the initiative work.

"Since the launch of this initiative, she said, under the office of first lady of mali and UNICEF, first ladies have not sat on there laurels." She further highlighted the crusade against child birth and pregnancy related issues, which she said were leading causes of death. She express regret about the fact that a lot of women dye silently, equating the scenario to the crashing of a jumbo jet, which she said normally receive wider press coverage, as opposed to what the latter receives
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Vice President Njie Saidy delved on the significant improvement registered in Gambia, although level still remain high. But she said that all effort are being put in place to regularize the situation. She mentioned a number of important initiative being embarked on at home towards this noble crusade; among them the vision 2020 initiative, Operation save the baby initiative, operation give blood and save a life, etc.

She promised that mobilization of resources and fund with be intensified, and announced that the First Lady, with the support of her husband, the Gambian leader, are looking forward to a name change; from Operation Save a Baby to Operation Save a Mother.

This she said will be lined up to several other projects under way, in women’s empowerment.

Madam Njie Saidy concluded by saying that the Gambia’s achievement would be a useful reference for replication by other sister countries. And she intimated that the Gambia also wants to learn from others. Finally, the Vice president urged participant to redouble their effort as we get closer to the 2010 target year.