Brenda Yufeh
12 January 2009
It was an occasion to praise the actions of Cameroon's First Lady, in the fight aganist HIV/AIDS.
Friday January 9, 2009, was a remarkable day at the African Synergy for the Fight against HIV/Suffering and the "Chantal Biya" International Reference Centre (CBIRC) for Research on Prevention and Management of HIV/AIDS all in Yaounde. It was a festive moment at both centres as the population and administrators awaited the visit of an august guest, the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Koichiro Matsuura.
After mid day, the internal and external decorations of the centres were set to welcome Koichiro Matsuura. Members of the Circle of Friends of Cameroon (CERAC), members of government, members of the diplomatic corps and other dignitaries had taken their seats. Dance groups such as the association of girls and women from the Upper Sanaga Division dubbed Nkon-Koa, the Bakossi Dance group (ngong) as well as the women wing of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (WCPDM) animated the ceremonial ground as the population awaited the UNESCO DG. The wait was a long one. By 6:30 p.m., the various dance groups had stopped animating. They started dancing to the Tsimi Toro and Lady Ponce Bikutsi tempo of the disc jacket. But the long wait was not in vain. At 8:00 p.m. the Police siren signalled the arrival of the Director General of UNESCO with his entourage which comprised of the Sub Director General of UNESCO, Noureini Tidjani Serpos.
As Koichiro Matsuura made his way into the ceremonial ground, he immediately went into the building of African Synergy for the fight against HIV/sufferings. Here, the Executive Secretary of African Synergy, Stephane Biatcha, presented the mission of the NGO which amongst other things is to combat HIV and to alleviate sufferings in Africa and beyond. Created under the initiative of Mrs Chantal Biya, Stephane Biatcha said African Synergy is made-up of 22 African First Ladies and recently celebrated its 6th anniversary with positive actions recorded in many countries. While noting that UNESCO is a partner to African Synergy since its creation. Stephane Biatcha expressed gratitude to UNESCO to have designated Mrs Chantal Biya as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Education and Social inclusion.
After visiting the office of Mrs Biya at African Synergy, UNESCO DG made his way to the Chantal Biya International Reference Centre (CBIRC) for Research on Prevention and Management of HIV/AIDS where he acknowledged that the mission of the centre which lay emphasis on prevention, treatment and mother-to-child transmission of HIV, correspond to that of UNESCO. In this light, Koichiro Matsuura said UNESCO will continue to reinforce its cooperation and collaboration ties with CBIRC and African Synergy against HIV/Suffering. The Director General of UNESCO also used the occasion to express his gratitude to Mrs Chantal Biya to have accepted the noble mission of UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. After presenting some of the activities of CBIRC since its inauguration on November 2006, the administrator of the centre, Dr Pierre Joseph Fonda, told Koichiro Matsuura, to serve as an advocate in categorising CBIRC as a "category 2" research centre.
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