First ladies of African nations in LA for health summit

First ladies from 15 African nations are in Los Angeles for a two-day health summit to promote their work on some of the continent’s biggest challenges. KPCC’s Debra Baer says they’ll be joined at the Skirball Center by the first ladies of California and the United Kingdom.

First ladies from 15 African nations are in Los Angeles for a two-day health summit to promote their work on some of the continent’s biggest challenges. KPCC’s Debra Baer says they’ll be joined at the Skirball Center by the first ladies of California and the United Kingdom.

Debra Baer: The women from Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, and 10 other countries are part of a group called Africa Synergy Against AIDS and Suffering.

Their goal is to improve health and education of people throughout the continent. The group works in partnership with U.S. Doctors for Africa, based in the San Fernando Valley. Its founder is Ted Alemayhu.

Ted Alemayhu: The first ladies will speaking about what they’ve been doing under this new group called African Synergies for the past 7-and-a-half years, some of the progress and failures of their initiatives, to create awareness and to ask for help.

Baer: That help, he says, would include resources, expertise, and partnerships with U.S. companies and non-profits scheduled to attend the summit, including RAND and Merck.

Organizers chose Los Angeles in part because of its star power. Sharon Stone, Danny Glover, and Billy Zane – each of whom has done a lot of charity work on Africa’s behalf – are also meeting with the first ladies.