Melania Trump Takes Her ‘Be Best’ Message to Africa

WHITE HOUSE—U.S. First Lady Melania Trump on Oct. 1, is set to begin her first solo international trip since her husband took office, visiting four African countries to promote the message of her “Be Best” child-welfare initiative.

“Each of us hails from a country with its own unique challenges,” Mrs. Trump told a reception in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday, “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.”

The White House said Mrs. Trump will make stops in Ghana, Malawi, Kenya, and Egypt.

USAID administrator Mark Green introduces U.S. first lady Melania Trump at a reception on her initiative "Be Best" at the United States mission to the U.N. on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sept. 26, 2018.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is helping to coordinate the trip, and noted Mrs. Trump’s stops will focus on health care for mothers and newborns, nutrition for women and children, early childhood education, wildlife conservation, HIV prevention, tourism, and conservation. The first lady is also expected to highlight the role the United States plays in helping each country.

‘Be Best’

Mrs. Trump unveiled her “Be Best” campaign in May.

According to the White House, the mission of Be Best is to encourage children to “be best in their individual paths, while also teaching them the importance of social, emotional and physical health.”

The Be Best platform consists of three main initiatives; well-being, social media use, and opioid abuse.

Previous first ladies have had similar policy initiatives geared to youth, such as Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign to fight childhood obesity and Nancy Reagan’s “Say No to Drugs.”

Good Public Relations

Joshua Meservey, senior policy analyst for Africa and the Middle East at the Heritage Foundation sees Mrs. Trump’s first solo overseas trip as sending “a good message to African countries that the U.S. values its engagement with them.”

Meservey added that the countries were chosen based on their good cooperation with the U.S. and will be a chance to “tout the support the U.S. gives those countries particularly for child well-being issues.”

The first lady’s visit is likely to be good PR, said John Campbell, senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“The United States remains popular in Africa, and the first lady is likely to be seen foremost as a representative of the nation, rather than the president,” he said.

Since he came into office in 2017, President Donald Trump has not visited the continent. Several African leaders have visited Trump in the White House, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in 2017, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2018 and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta last month.

United States first lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna, (L), hold Rwandan children they met at an AIDS project during a church service at Kagarama Church in Kigali, July 14, 2005. Bush was on the last leg of her official visit to Africa after the meeting of G8 leaders in Gleneagles, Scotland.

US Aid to Africa

John Campbell added that under Trump there has been little change in the administration’s policy toward Africa from the bipartisan consensus that dates from the 1960s, “in part because of White House lack of interest.”

In fiscal 2015, USAID and the U.S. Department of State provided more than $8 billion in assistance to 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

USAID programs in Africa were slated for significant cuts in the Trump administration’s proposed budget but have been blocked by Congress.

By Patsy Widakuswara