The job of a First Lady may appear glamorous, but below the surface, it comes with a lot of heavy work. This 71st session of the UN General Assembly in particular, has been very hectic for the First Lady of Cameroon. Apart from the usual duties required of her by State Protocol, Mrs. Chantal Biya was at the forefront of several activities geared at either promoting a laudable cause, consolidating bilateral relations or working in support of one of the several UN Goodwill Ambassador positions she actively holds.

To begin with, Mrs Biya braved the rain that battered New York on Monday September 19, 2016, to honour the invitation of Mrs Michelle Obama, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in midtown Manhattan. The Broadway event was an initiative of the US Government’s “Let Girls Learn” program, which is a brainchild of President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama, in an effort to shed some light on the plight of millions of young girls around the world that have been cheated out of the right to standard education. Given that Mrs.

Biya herself is well-known for her prolific activism in this domain, the occasion was a perfect avenue for her to showcase the advances Cameroon has made in this regard through her Foundation’s project dubbed “Ecole des Champions” ventures. The “Tea Party” reception at the Sutton Place residence of the UN Secretary General was another avenue for Mrs Biya and the wife of the UN Secretary-General Mrs. Ban Soon-Taek, together with over 170 First Ladies present at this year’s session of the UN General Assembly, to certainly work at consolidating the ties that exist between the various nations as well as their different social activities in their countries.

When President Paul Biya, took to the rostrum to address his peers at the UN General Assembly, First Lady, Chantal Biya dutifully applied herself to the rigorous task of seating through the entire session, as her husband unveiled his vision for the theme of the 71st session, “The Sustainable Development Goals: A Universal Push to Transform Our World”. With her characteristic good humour, the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Education and Social Inclusion cheered her husband on, certainly reflecting on more initiatives in this domain, to complement the excellent work her associations such as the Circle of Friends of Cameroon (CERAC) and the African Synergy Against HIV and Suffering, are currently doing. It is evident with much satisfaction that Chantal Biya will be leaving New York with more grease to her elbows…