Selected Case Studies
GFLA has provided in-depth 1:1 advising to 20 First Ladies, and facilitated collaborations between First Ladies and 30 global institutions and liaised with Presidents’ Offices and other Ministries to align agendas and generate positive impact. These services have included in-country site visits to Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia.
GFLA advised former First Lady, Ms. Sia Nyama Koroma, on how to best support the implementation of universal health care and helped facilitate convenings with the U.S. Government, USAID, RAND, UNICEF, UNFPA, the International Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and International Medical Corps on the issue of birthing shelters, and the Mattru Jong Hospital. Additionally, GFLA secured speaking engagements for Ms. Sia Nyama Koroma’s, including with the Clinton Global Initiative, UNFPA, and TED Women, and mentored her Senior Advisors on policy analysis and project management among other issues.
GFLA assisted former First Lady Ms. Odinga with coordinating roundtable discussions on improved nutrition and helped organize a national summit focused on nutrition’s impact on education, economic development, and maternal and child health. Furthermore, GFLA helped the First Lady’s Office identify and manage international and local partnerships and secured speaking engagements for Ms. Odinga with the Global Health Council, CARE, Women Deliver, and Komen Global Alliance among others.
GFLA has worked with the First Lady’s Office of Namibia since 2009 and mentored former First Lady, Ms. Penehupifo Pohamba’s, Senior Advisors in strategic planning, policy analysis, and project management. Additionally, GFLA helped the former First Lady to launch a campaign on the prevention of transmissions of HIV/AIDS between mothers and children. As part of this work, GFLA helped Ms. Penehupifo Pohamba secure increased funding for her Office from Namibia’s National Planning Commission. GFLA also advised Ms. Penehupifo Pohamba and her team on Memorandums of Understanding with UNFPA, the U.S. Center for Disease Control, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization, and identified funders for the First Lady’s community-based Birth Waiting Home Network.
Between 2010 and 2014, GFLA helped the former First Lady of Namibia Ms. Penehupifo Pohamba and her Office to secure funding for two birthing shelters in Outapi and Okongo near the Angolan border. Every year 245,000 women in Africa die from problems related to their pregnancy. For many women and newborns, being in a birthing shelter near a hospital with emergency obstetrical care can mean the difference between life and death.