First Lady dedicates Goodwill Ambassador honour to Zambia

First Lady, Christine Kaseba-Sata, has dedicated her recent appointment as Good Will Ambassador for Gender Based Violence (GBV) against women and girls by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to Zambia.

Mrs. Kaseba-Sata said while she felt highly honoured and recognized world-over for her fight against GBV in particular and women’s rights in general, she would dedicated her appointment to the Zambian government and all partners engaged in the fight.

She pledged to use her new position as Good Will Ambassador against GBV to open more doors to add her voice towards raising awareness on GBV, and emphasized that she would be more concerned about infringing women in countries where there were conflicts.

She was speaking in an exclusive interview with Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in New York yesterday.

Dr. Kaseba-Sata said as a model, she would use Zambia as an example for enacting the Anti-Gender Violence Act and removing the infamous discriminatory Article 23 from the current Draft Constitution which allowed discrimination in matters of personal law.

The First Lady further said she would use her new title to mobilise all gyneacologists and obstetricians worldwide so that they find a way of helping in the fight against GBV.

Dr. Kaseba-Sata added that she was considering meeting young people at a meeting and discuss with them on matters of gender based violence in a bid to create more awareness on their rights and highlight to them the impact of GBV.

She further appealed to men to change their mind set and start considering women as partners and not as tools or inferior human beings that are meant to be beaten and abused at will.

Dr. Kaseba-Sata, who is in New York for the 57^th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, said she expected the gathering to send a voice to governments to evaluate what they have done about GBV following the many conventions and charters that had been signed before.

The First Lady expected to see governments pledging more money towards the promotion of women’s rights and women empowerment.

She has been here at the invitation as the World Health Organisation’s Good Will Ambassador of Gender Based Violence and women’s rights.