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The African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) has recognized Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Her Excellency Fatima Maada Bio, as the African Champion of Sanitation and Hygiene, making her the third prominent personality to receive the honor after Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
The prestigious recognition celebrates Mrs. Bio’s tireless advocacy to ensure that women and girls have access to clean and safe environments, particularly through her landmark “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign and the nationwide distribution of free sanitary pads to school-going girls.
Acting Executive Secretary of AMCOW, Thomas Banda, conveyed warm greetings from the Secretariat and highlighted the challenges facing the continent in achieving adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene. He noted that over 400 million Africans still lack access to safe sanitation services.
“It is in this regard that AMCOW Secretariat initiated efforts to identify, engage, and nominate a high-level champion for sanitation and hygiene,” Banda said. “The search kept narrowing down until we landed at the profile of Her Excellency, the First Lady of Sierra Leone.”
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He added that the organization looks forward to working closely with Madam Fatima Bio to strengthen advocacy and ensure that every African enjoys access to safely managed sanitation and hygiene, including menstrual health, while also supporting the continent’s drive to end open defecation.
In her acceptance speech, the First Lady expressed heartfelt appreciation for the recognition, describing it as a humbling acknowledgment of work she undertakes with passion. She thanked President Julius Maada Bio for his unwavering support and guidance.
“I want to say thank you, Your Excellency, for your support. I will succeed only if you continue to give me that support. For Africa to see me and the work I am doing to serve humanity, it is because of the free space you have given me to work,” she said.
Mrs. Bio reaffirmed her commitment to collaborating with all stakeholders to improve hygiene and sanitation, both in Sierra Leone and across Africa. “Hygiene and sanitation remain serious challenges, and they require our collective attention,” she emphasized.
She further extended gratitude to AMCOW and her team at the Office of the First Lady for their continued support. “It is because of you that I have the zeal and oxygen to do more work that has led to this achievement,” she concluded.
President Bio described the event as a proud moment for Sierra Leone, commending the First Lady’s leadership in advancing gender empowerment and public health.
“We are especially proud of her extensive work throughout Sierra Leone with ‘Hands Off Our Girls.’ As a result of her fervent advocacy, more girls are safer in their communities and schools, more girls persist in education, and more have access to menstrual hygiene products,” he said.
The recognition, he added, reaffirms Sierra Leone’s growing influence in championing gender equality and sustainable development across the continent.
