Cuban Ambassador Juan Vazquez applauds First Lady Margaret Kenyatta’s Beyond Zero Initiative
The Cuban envoy to Kenya Juan Manuel Rodriguez Vazquez has applauded First Lady Margaret Kenyatta’s involvement in the promotion of the welfare of children and women through her Beyond Zero Initiative.
Speaking at the State House in Nairobi where he held talks with the First Lady, Vazquez said the two organisations can co-operate in a variety of areas to advance gender and social development in Kenya.
“The Cuban Women Federation is mainly involved in advancing women’s welfare, gender balance, and social development which are good grounds for co-operation,” Vazquez said, adding that the federation was ready to partner with the Margaret Kenyatta Institute for Gender and Social Development.
“We know you are very active in the area of women empowerment. We also know about the Margaret Kenyatta Institute, and we can now start a collaboration with the institute and how the two can start working together,” Vazquez told the First Lady.
The Cuban envoy, who was accompanied by his wife Yrasema Lilian Moret Ascota, explored several opportunities for collaboration between Beyond Zero Initiative and Cuban organisations.
Margaret informed her visitors that Beyond Zero was open to collaborate with Cuban organisations in the promotion of social justice and development targeting children, women, and vulnerable communities.
At the meeting, Margaret was briefed on the findings of a fact-finding mission to Cuba by delegation from her office and Beyond Zero that visited Cuba in June 2021 to draw lessons on the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, and related community health interventions.
During the visit, the Kenyan delegation noted the prioritisation of investment in community health by the Cuban government with a key focus on disease prevention, child and maternal health, research, and vaccine development which the team said could be replicated in Kenya.
The meeting was also attended by the Chief of Staff in the Office of the First Lady Constance Gakonyo, Beyond Zero Technical Advisor Jane Kiragu and the organisation’s Coordinator Angella Langat as well as the Director of Administration in the Office of the First Lady Eva Maina.
