Madonna meets Kenya’s First Lady to promote female empowerment

Madonna spent Independence Day in Kenya, Africa, meeting with the first lady to promote female empowerment.

July 4 saw the queen of pop meet with Margaret Kenyatta the First Lady of Kenya to raise awareness of various female causes including an initiative called the Beyond Zero campaign.

The initiative has been set up to support mothers and children in overcoming HIV-related issues and in has so far been so successful that Kenyatta was named UN Person of the Year in 2014.

Kenyatta met with Madonna because she is a goodwill ambassador for Child Welfare in Malawi, as well as the founder of the charity Raising Malawi, which works to prevent extreme poverty by Malawi’s orphans. She adopted 10-year-old daughter Mercy from Malawi after setting up her foundation.

Madonna shared a picture of herself and Kenyatta on Instagram saying: “Meeting with Her Excellency Margaret Kenyatta, the first lady of Kenya!”

“Learning about her Beyond Zero Campaign which targets eliminating maternal and child mortality in Kenya and hoping to join forces to promote Female Empowerment! Around the World! Happy 4th!”

Madonna spent the weekend visiting Africa’s largest slum Kibera, as part of trip to support Shining Hope for Communities. The not-for-profit aims to provide girls in Kenyan slums with free education, health care, food and psychological services.

Posting pictures from her trip she wrote: “Where there is light there is hope in Kibera! Amazing work being done by @shofco.”

Uploading a picture of a dirty stream of water she added: “Imagine this is where your water comes from! @shofco is working to change this in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum.”