Michelle Obama will honour the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the struggle against apartheid during an official visit to Southern Africa next week.
For her second solo international trip, the First Lady has scheduled stops in South Africa and Botswana, two growing democracies, where she will continue her work encouraging young people to get involved in national affairs. She also will also promote education, health and wellness.
The previously announced June 20-26 trip begins on Monday in Johannesburg. Mrs Obama will also stop in Pretoria and Cape Town before moving on to Gaborone. The trip ends with a private family safari at a South African game reserve before the return to Washington on June 27.
She will be accompanied by her daughters Malia and Sasha, her mother, Marian Robinson, and her niece and nephew, Leslie and Avery Robinson.
White House officials said on Wednesday that the trip will help advance the administration’s agenda in Africa.
Mrs Obama will spend most of her time in South Africa. She is scheduled to meet with Mandela’s wife, Graça Machel, tour the Nelson Mandela Foundation, where his papers are stored, and visit the Apartheid Museum, which tells the story of the rise and fall of the now-abolished system of white-minority rule.
The First Lady also plans a ferry ride to Robben Island, where Mandela spent 18 of the 27 years he was imprisoned for fighting apartheid.
Mrs Obama also will meet with Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma, the wife of South African President Jacob Zuma, and with Botswana’s president, Ian Khama.
A meeting between Mrs Obama and Mandela was not on the agenda the White House released on Wednesday, and officials said one would largely depend on the state of his fragile health. The former president, who is 92, suffered an acute respiratory infection in late January that sent him to the hospital for 48 hours.
Ben Rhodes, a deputy White House national security adviser, said Mrs Obama would “treasure any opportunity” to interact with Mandela.
Mrs Obama’s schedule also includes a meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and key figure in the struggle against apartheid. – Sapa-AP