Emine Erdoğan Met with Representatives of Civil Society Organizations in Africa

In Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia with President Erdoğan and the accompanying delegation, Emine Erdoğan met with the First Lady of Ethiopia Roman Tesfaye, visited the Ethiopian National Museum and met with representatives of local women's NGOs working in different fields at Addis Ababa University.

In Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia with President Erdoğan and the accompanying delegation, Emine Erdoğan met with the First Lady of Ethiopia Roman Tesfaye, visited the Ethiopian National Museum and met with representatives of local women's NGOs working in different fields at Addis Ababa University.

On the first day of her four-day visit to Africa, Emine Erdoğan, who is in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the accompanying delegation, visited the Ethiopian National Museum after meeting with the First Lady of Ethiopia Roman Tesfaye.

VISIT TO ETHIOPIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM

Here, she received information from the authorities about the 4 million-year-old 'Lucy' skeleton, which is described as the oldest human skeleton in the world. After her visit to the museum where artworks related to the history of Ethiopia are also exhibited, Emine Erdoğan visited a non-governmental organization working for women with AIDS under the auspices of the First Lady of Ethiopia. She received information about the struggles in Ethiopia, where HIV and AIDS are widespread. At the end of this visit, Emine Erdoğan visited the textile workshop within the center and bought handicraft products made by women who stepped into a new life to educate their children and earn a living.

"PROBLEMS RELATED TO WOMEN, CHILDREN AND EDUCATION IN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ARE SIMILAR"

Following this program, Emine Erdoğan met with representatives of local women's NGOs working in different fields at Addis Ababa University. Leading entrepreneurial women of the country participated in the roundtable meeting and gave information about their fields of work. In her speech at the meeting moderated by the First Lady of Ethiopia Roman Tesfaye, Emine Erdoğan drew attention to the similarity of the problems related to women, children and education in developed and developing countries and stated that the exchange of ideas and ideas on common problems will provide global gains. She pointed to the work of the Turkish State and civil society in the areas where Ethiopia is in need.

"TURKEY HAS NEVER APPROACHED AFRICA WITH A SELF-INTERESTED AND COLONIALIST MENTALITY"

Emine Erdoğan underlined that Turkey does not approach Africa with a self-interested and colonialist mentality and that all these investments are made for purely humanitarian purposes, such as drilling water wells, supporting orphans and investing in health. Stating that it is necessary to work in a multifaceted way to combat the problems that are widespread in Africa and closely related to women's health, Emine Erdoğan said that sometimes problematic religious perceptions or rigid traditional attitudes lead to health problems that threaten the mental-bodily integrity of women and therefore societies need a deep-rooted consciousness revolution. She reminded that Ethiopia, as an agricultural society, should appreciate its virgin lands unspoiled by chemicals and pass on environmental awareness to future generations by working on natural agriculture.

It was noteworthy that one of the representatives who took the floor at the meeting stated that they take Turkey as an example to prevent tobacco use in Ethiopia. The representative of the non-governmental organization, which works on combating cancer by preventing tobacco use, said that they follow the success achieved in this field in Turkey and stated that the phrase 'smoking like a Turk' has disappeared into history.

After the round table meeting at the university, Emine Erdoğan presented a book set of English language publications of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to the university library.

During her trip to Africa, Emine Erdoğan will continue to meet with civil society representatives and visit orphanages.

22.01.2015