Now in its eighth year, the annual DUSUSU Foundation Award, which was co-founded by Santa Clarita siblings, recognizes the measurable work of First Ladies and Gender Ministers from the African continent and Caribbean. The foundation held its first presentation for the 2021 recipients recently in the Abuja, Nigeria.

DUSUSU stands for Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up, and was co-founded about nine years ago by sisters Zuriel and Azaliah Oduwole in hopes of finding ways to get more girls across Africa and the Caribbean into schools.

Presenting both the award itself and the citation document binder, Zuriel, 19, and Azaliah, 17, highlighted the work the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs & Social Development was doing, especially in the areas of girl’s education in their resettlement programs of displaced persons.

It is the first time in the Awards history that a recipient has been so recognized from the country of Nigeria, in either the First Lady or the Gender Minister categories.

Receiving the award before a large and colorful gathering of friends, associates and two other cabinet Ministers from the Education and Trade ministries at the Sheraton Abuja hotel, Minister Sadiya Umar thanked the selection committee for recognizing her gender specific initiatives in the realm of her work as minister in the ministry. She added that her directors, project managers and associate leadership, are the true driving force, behind her success.

Minister Sadiya joins other ministers from Mauritius, Ghana, Rwanda, Jamaica, and Sierra Leone, who have received this Award, with some like Ghana receiving it twice.

On Monday, the sisters presented their eighth edition of the First Lady DUSUSU Award category to H.E. Mrs. Monica Geingo’s at a colorful and elegant event at the state house in Windhoek, Namibia.

Geingo’s said she was honored to receive the award on behalf of her tireless staff, who make her work in the area of gender development look very easy. Other past first lady awardees include the first ladies of Tanzania, Kenya, Senegal, Mozambique, Cabo Verde and Sierra Leone.

Some like Ghana have received the award twice, in recognition of the country’s robust initiatives aimed at ending girl marriage in the West African nation.

For more information on the DUSUSU organization, visit https://www.dususu.org/.

Zuriel and Azaliah Oduwole present the 2021 DUSUSU Awards to First Lady H.E. Monica Geingos of Namibia in Windhoek.

Zuriel Oduwole speaks st First Lady DUSUSU Award in Namibia.

Azaliah Oduwole speaks at First Lady DUSUSU Award in Namibia.