Namibia’s former First Lady and advocate for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Monica Geingos was one of three women to be awarded the 2024 Hall of Femme Award by the International Women’s Forum South Africa (IWFSA).

IWFSA forms part of the International Women’s Forum (IWF), a global invitation-only network of some of the world’s most accomplished and influential women leaders.

A media release on Friday stated that the award ceremony took place in Johannesburg on Wednesday, where Geingos was made a Hall of Femme Honoree alongside Dr Naledi Pandor, former South African minister of international relations, as well as Wendy Ackerman, Pick n Pay Group executive co-founder.

The award citation for Geingos recognised her transformative work on financial inclusion in Namibia, how she drove meaningful change as First Lady, and her turnaround of the Organisation of African First Ladies during her tenure as its president.

In her acceptance remarks, she reflected on the 2024 SDG Gender Index, which found that no country has fully achieved the United Nations (UN) 2030 gender equality goals between 2019 and 2022.

“When you expose adolescent girls to risk, you risk the development of your country. When you build strong and resilient adolescents, you build strong and resilient families, a strong and resilient workforce, and a strong and resilient economy. We all must play a deliberate role in empowering women, and enabling adolescents to survive and thrive,” she stated.

She dedicated her award to adolescent girls and young women on the African continent who inspire her vision of intergenerational solidarity among women, which fast-tracks the attainment of an equal society. -Nampa