Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Dr. Fatima Maada Bio, called on African governments and institutions to treat women as architects of resilience rather than passive victims of crisis, as she presided over the Senegal launch of a continent-wide campaign on women’s resilience in Dakar on Wednesday, October 14.

Dr. Bio, who serves as President of the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), addressed government officials, diplomats and civil society representatives at the Evasion Marine Conference Centre for the official launch of the “Building Resilience Campaign” in Senegal, where the initiative is being championed by that country’s First Lady, Marie Khone Faye. The event was reported by Ishmael Bayoh, Information Attaché at the Sierra Leone Embassy in Dakar.

“Africa cannot build resilient societies while half of its population is left behind,” Dr. Bio told the gathering, framing the campaign as a push to move women from the margins of Africa’s development conversation to its center.

She argued that the continent’s biggest challenges cannot be solved without women at the table. “We cannot speak about climate change without speaking about women farmers,” she said, linking agricultural livelihoods, food security and climate adaptation directly to women’s economic participation.

Dr. Bio pointed to Sierra Leone’s own “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign — a national drive against teenage pregnancy, sexual violence and child marriage — as proof that coordinated action across government, traditional and religious leaders, civil society, development partners, the media and young people can produce measurable results. She urged other African nations to replicate that model of broad-based collaboration.

“Our work must move from awareness to action, from advocacy to policy, and from promises to measurable impact,” she said, pressing fellow African First Ladies and partner institutions to set concrete targets rather than rely on symbolic gestures.

The Dakar event is a national rollout of OAFLAD’s “Building Resilience for Women and Girls in the Face of Climate Change and Conflict” campaign, a 2025-2027 initiative that Dr. Bio and fellow First Ladies formally launched at a high-level side event during the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2025. That campaign, which builds on OAFLAD’s earlier #WeAreEqual initiative, commits participating governments to protecting essential services for women and girls, embedding gender considerations into national climate strategies, expanding women’s economic opportunities, and strengthening advocacy for peace and health across the continent.

Observers at the Dakar launch described the timing as significant, with climate-related disasters, displacement and economic pressure continuing to weigh disproportionately on African women and girls. The campaign’s organizers say its success will depend on sustained partnerships between governments, civil society, the private sector, academia and international development agencies across the continent.

Dr. Bio’s appearance in Dakar underscores Sierra Leone’s continuing visibility in continental policy circles on gender and development, a role she has built through OAFLAD since taking on its presidency, and one the government has pointed to as part of its broader diplomatic engagement in West Africa.

Sources: Premier Media SL, Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD).