Jill Biden arrives in Namibia this Wednesday, on her first visit to Africa as first lady of the United States.
Biden will focus on women’s empowerment, children’s issues and food insecurity that have affected large parts of the continent.
“Dr. Biden’s trip follows last year’s US-African Leaders Summit and is another demonstration of President (Joe) Biden’s commitment” to Africa, said Judd Devermont, director of African affairs at the National Security Council. to reporters Tuesday morning.
“The US strategy towards sub-Saharan Africa, which we launched last August, begins with the conviction that Africa is critical to advancing our shared global priorities,” added Devermont.
According to the official, the administration believes that “we are in the early years of a decisive decade that will determine the rules of the road on a number of vital issues of trade and economy, cybersecurity and technology.”
Jill Biden’s visit is the first by a US first lady to Namibia since the southwestern African nation gained independence in 1990.
As well as focusing on women and children, the first lady will draw attention to the food insecurity plaguing East Africa when she visits Kenya.
“In Kenya, Biden will specifically call attention to the food insecurity crisis in the Horn of Africa, which is suffering from the worst drought this region has experienced in decades,” National Security Council spokeswoman Becky Farmer said.
According to Farmer, “more than 20 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity and many more are at risk of further famine.”
President Biden highlighted the situation in December when he announced a sweeping humanitarian aid package at the African leaders’ summit in Washington and raised the issue again on Tuesday during his visit to Poland, highlighting the effects of the war in Ukraine on global food supplies. .
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin has tried to starve the world by blockading Black Sea ports to prevent Ukraine from exporting its grains, exacerbating a global food crisis that has hit developing nations in Africa very hard.” Biden said.
He added that the United States and the G7 countries responded with historic commitments to address the crisis and increase global food supplies.
“And this week my wife Jill Biden is traveling to Africa to help bring attention to this critical issue.”
Visits by presidential wives are often a contrast to the more strategic and muscular presences of presidents, as Biden himself pointed out when he said that Jill Biden does not have executive authority nor does she hold a voter-elected position.
“I was not elected, but I have a role to play,” Jill Biden said in December at a meeting of wives of African leaders.
“As wives, we also serve the people of our countries. We see their hearts and their hopes. We observe the small miracles of compassion and generosity among neighbors. We know what can happen when communities come together, how much they can change when we work together for a cause greater than ourselves.”
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