On Friday, February 24, 2023, U.S. First Lady Jill Biden advised the young people of Namibia that the democracy their parents and grandparents fought for is now theirs to defend and protect.
Jill Biden encouraged them to include women and girls, voices that she said are too often unheard, as they move forward.
Biden told a largely student audience at Namibia University of Science and Technology, “As the first generation to be born into a free Namibia, the legacy that your parents and grandparents created is now yours.
“Yours to defend and protect. Yours to grow. And as we look forward, we must remember that the fight for democracy has no end,” the First Lady added.
“We must build on the foundation of democracy by lifting up those voices that have gone unheard, particularly women and girls, people living on the margins of society, or those vulnerable to abuse,” Biden told the audience of more than 1,000 students from different schools seated around her in a campus courtyard.
Namibia is a relatively young democracy, gaining its independence from South Africa in 1990.
Biden is midway through her first tour of Africa as first lady, including a visit to Kenya that begins later on Friday. She is using the trip to focus on empowering women and girls as well as to highlight a devastating drought that is increasing food insecurity across the Horn of Africa.
Biden, who has worked with young people throughout her 30-year teaching career, said the students must exercise their rights to disagree and to dissent, to speak up when they see injustice and support leaders who listen to their concerns.
The first lady noted that, in the United States, “we are still defending and strengthening our democracy, almost 250 years after our founding.”
“Democracy isn’t easy. It takes work but it’s worth it, because democracy delivers.”
Jill Biden
Afterward, she worked her way around the courtyard in a way that she rarely does, shaking hands and taking selfies with scores of excited students.
At one point, the students cheered as she danced to a drum-heavy African beat.
Chosen Because Of Its Vibrant Democracy
After arriving in the country on Wednesday, February 22, 2023, Jill Biden divulged that she chose to visit Namibia because of its vibrant democracy.
“We wanted to come because you know this is a young democracy, and we want to support democracies around the world.”
Jill Biden
Jill Biden remarked that she met the First Lady of Namibia, Monica Geingos in December “and we’re just continuing the relationship. Monica and I think it’s safe to say that we became good friends instantly.”
First Lady Monica Geingos agreed, asserting that there was a lot in Namibia she would like to show Jill Biden, who is making the first visit to the country by an incumbent First Lady.
“It is a very vibrant democracy. We’ve got a very large youth population, who drives that democracy, very energetic and fully enabled by our constitutional values but also by the personal values of our leadership.”
First Lady Monica Geingos
On Thursday, February 23, 2023, First Lady of Namibia accompanied Jill Biden to Hope Initiatives, a Non-Governmental Organization.
Jill Biden spent nearly an hour at Hope Initiatives Southern Africa, where she listened to moving testimonials from participants in the nongovernmental organization’s programs
Hope Initiatives Southern Africa works to end poverty and hunger in marginalized communities in the region. Some of its programs, including ones to prevent new HIV infections and gender-based violence, receive funding through the U.S President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Namibian First Lady Monica Geingos told Biden that her visit was a “powerful” sign of friendship for a country that “needs work.”
Geingos added that “one of the reasons Namibia doesn’t make international headlines is because it’s a functioning democracy with the fundamentals in place.”
READ ALSO: Zelenskyy Vows To Strive For Victory On War Anniversary
