13 November 2008
The First Lady of Cameroon, Chantal Biya, will become a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for education and social inclusion, the agency announced today.
Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, announced that Ms. Biya will formally receive the title during a ceremony tomorrow at the agency's headquarters in Paris.
Mr. Matsuura said the designation as Goodwill Ambassador reflects the long-standing support of Ms. Biya for inclusive education, especially for girls, young women, orphans and the underprivileged, and also for HIV/AIDS research, treatment, education and prevention.
The Cameroonian First Lady already works with her counterparts across the continent through the organization Synergies Africaines, which she created, and is also involved in humanitarian work through the International Chantal Biya Reference and Research Centre for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Caretaking in Yaoundé, the national capital.
Ms. Biya has also participated in UNESCO's HIV/AIDS Families First Africa project, which is involved in prevention programmes.
The ranks of UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors already include the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former South African president Nelson Mandela, the Nigerian writer and Nobel Literature Prize laureate Wole Soyinka and the Malian scientist Cheick Modibo Diarra.
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