Jill Biden to Visit Namibia, Kenya for First Time as First Lady

Jill Biden visited Africa five times a second lady, highlighting the plight of the powerless. Here she spoke at the continent's largest refugee camp in Dodab, Kenya, in 2011. The mothers are bringing their children from Somalia, walking sometimes 15, 20, 25 days, and they lose their children along the way the children die. So what I'm asking is for Americans just to maybe reach out and help, and because the situation here is dire. Now First Lady, she returns to Kenya this week. She will also visit Namibia, the first U.S.

First Lady to do so since the nation gained independence three decades ago. In addition to focusing on women and children, the First Lady will also draw attention to the dire food insecurity that is again gnawing at East Africa. In December, President Biden announced a $2 billion humanitarian package to combat the problem in the region. Assistance are going to help ensure that children and families don't have to go to bed hungry. Presidential spouse visits often provide a contrast to the strategic muscular approach to the presidency, partly because, as Jill Biden herself points out, she has no executive authority and no mandate from American voters. I know that I wasn't elected, but I knew that I had a part to play. And as spouses, we serve the people of our countries too, don't we? And we see their hearts and their hopes.

We witness the small miracles of compassion and generosity between neighbors. We know what can happen when communities come together and how much can change when we work towards a cause that's really so much bigger than ourselves. U.S. First Ladies are generally well received on the African continent, said Catherine Jellison, a professor of U.S. women's history and gender history at Ohio University.

Maybe because they have an advantage over the president. There's just going to be warmer feelings toward a non-politician who's visiting than a politician, because there may be strings attached. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has been wooing Africa to support Ukraine over Russia, and recently dispatched Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to Senegal, Zambia and South Africa. And Russia's foreign minister has this year visited multiple nations that have historic or ideological ties to Russia, the former Soviet Union, like Mali, Sudan and Angola. China sent its new foreign minister to Africa for his maiden voyage, a sign of that nation's deep interest in the continent. First Ladies' visit opens Wednesday and is expected to last five days. Anita Paolo, the OAD News, The White House.

Jill Biden, Kenya, Namibia, US first lady