Melania Trump plans to emphasize child welfare in Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt in October on her first extended solo international mission. The trip will also be the first ever to the vast African continent by America’s Slovenia-born first lady.
She discussed the trip Wednesday at a reception for the spouses of foreign leaders and others participating in the annual U.N. General Assembly.
“Oct. 1 will mark the first day of my solo visit to four beautiful and very different countries in Africa,” Mrs. Trump said during brief remarks to several dozen guests attending the event near U.N. headquarters.
She said she looks forward to spreading the message of her “Be Best” child-welfare initiative. She launched the campaign in May to focus on overall child well-being, with an emphasis on opioid addiction and online behavior.
The countries on her itinerary work closely with the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is helping organize the trip, she said.
“Whether it is education, drug addiction, hunger, online safety or bullying, poverty or disease, it is too often children who are hit first, and hardest, across the globe,” Mrs. Trump said. “Each of us hails from a country with its own unique challenges, but I know in my heart we are united by our commitment to raising the next generation to be happy, healthy and morally responsible adults.”
She offered no details on her activities in each country during the trip, which spans the first week of October.
The first ladies of Ghana, Malawi and Kenya attended the event and Mrs. Trump recognized each one individually. The first lady of Kenya accompanied President Uhuru Kenyatta to the White House in August and she and Mrs. Trump met separately from their spouses.
