Libreville - African presidents' wives met on Thursday in Gabon for a summit on a range of issues, from helping people with Aids in conflict zones to providing care for children and the displaced.
The third meeting of the Peace Mission of African First Ladies will be a three-day session with workshops on how to cope with HIV and Aids in conflict zones, looking after children in such regions, and the social reintegration of displaced people.
The host First Lady, Edith Lucie Bongo, told the opening ceremony that the "proximity" of the participants to their husbands is "an asset, because we are kept informed and we can inform" them.
She also expressed hope that the summits, which began in Nigeria in 1997 and occur every two years, could serve as a "springboard since we can ... if not achieve, at least help to mobilise African women, country by country, beyond the divisions of race, religion and politics".
The visitors to Libreville included Grace Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Marguerite Kerekou of Benin, Constancia Mangue Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, Theresa Kufuor of Ghana, Chantal Compaore of Burkina Faso, Adame Ba Konare of Mali, Antoinette Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville, Henriette Conte of Guinea, Maria Helena Trovoada of Sao Tome and Principe, Sophie Buyoya of Burundi and Simone Gbagbo of Ivory Coast.
On Saturday, the First Ladies are expected to adopt a final report which will redefine the role of their grouping and serve as a platform for action, said officials.
Two of the announced participants were absent - Chantal Biya of Cameroon and Stella Obasanjo of Nigeria - but Angele Patasse of the Central African Republic was due to arrive on Friday, according to the president's office here.
President Omar Bongo told the group that he believed they would come up with "highly innovative" ideas about the problems they were to discuss, adding that the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) should match their commitment with "effective, concrete and speedy implementation".
"I have a habit of saying that where a man has failed, a woman can succeed," Bongo added. - Sapa-AFP