RITA
Marley, singer and wife of reggae king Bob Marley, received her African Women
of Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award at a glitzy ceremony at the Warwick
Hotel in New York, recently.
The event
was hosted by the African Union Diaspora Africa Forum in collaboration with the
United Nations.
The
Marley family matriarch was bestowed the honour for her philanthropic works in
Africa and Jamaica through the Rita Marley Foundation.
"I
want to show some love to Africa, Jamaica and our ancestors. As Bob Marley
said: 'Africa Unite', 'cause we're treading on the winepress for far too long.
United we stand, divided we fall," she told the gathering.
"All
of us gathered here this evening still have a great deal of work ahead of us;
because, right now in Africa, young girls and women are being killed for
pursuing an education. Children and women are also the most impoverished people
on the continent. At this moment little girls are condemned into childhood
marriages and young girls forced into prostitution. In 2015, women (Africa
& the Diaspora) are victimised for being women and earn less than men for
similar skills and labour. Right now in Africa, women walk long distances on
lonely dangerous roads to seek food and water for their families. Also, the
majority of people injured or killed during conflict are children and
women," she continued.
Madame
Xernona Clayton, philanthropist and founder of Trumpet Awards, was the
evening's other Lifetime Achievement honoree. The other recipients were Dr
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Justice Julia Sarkodie-Mensah, Ambassador Alice Dear,
Dr Gloria Herndon, Dr Arikana Chihombori, Vivian Derryck, Cecilia Anim,
Claudette Perry, and Florizelle Liser.
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