Paraguay’s First Lady receives Act For Early Years award

Theirworld Chair Sarah Brown (centre) with award winners Leticia Ocampo and Olena Zelenska (Theirworld/Ilya Savenok)

Leticia Ocampos, First Lady of Paraguay, has received an Act For Early Years award for her “dedication and unwavering commitment to the world’s youngest children”.

Her work was recognised at the high-level Educating for the Next Generation event in New York, where heads of government, philanthropy, business and other institutions gathered to place education at the centre of efforts to tackle climate change, conflict and unemployment.

The First Lady – who is also the president of the Alliance of Spouses of Heads of State and Representatives of Latin America – received her award from Theirworld Chair Sarah Brown.

Sarah said: “Leticia Ocampos has collaborated closely with first ladies across the region, shared initiatives and best practice, and has chosen a keystone issue to end her term – early childhood initiatives in partnership with UNICEF and Theirworld through the Act For Early Years campaign.

“In Paraguay, she has led and co-ordinated an inter-agency approach to early childhood rights, she’s created the first national early childhood programme, led a fund to construct 100 new comprehensive early childhood care centres, reaching 30% of the total childhood population, and she has worked to protect families against violence and created a national programme for alternative care and adoption.”

Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, also received a Theirworld Unlock Big Change award for “her dedication and unwavering commitment to the education of children and youth affected by conflict”. Sarah said she had promoted safe schools to ensure children continue to learn despite the war.