Keïta Aminata Maiga, also known as Aminata Maïga Keïta, is a Malian healthcare,

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

, and children's advocate, and the widow of former President

Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (; 29 January 1945 – 16 January 2022), often known by his initials IBK, was a Malian politician who served as the president of Mali from September 2013 to August 2020, when he was forced to resign in the 2020 Malian cou ...

. Under this capacity, she served as the

First Lady of Mali First Lady of Mali (French: ''Première dame du Mali'') is the title held by the wife of the president of Mali, concurrent with the president's term of office. The present first lady is Lala Diallo, wife of interim President Assimi Goïta, who ha ...

from 4 September 2013 until 19 August 2020. During her tenure as first lady, Maiga has promoted improvements in

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, the welfare of mothers and children, the environment and athletics. Maiga, an opponent of

child marriage Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.* * * * Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative co ...

, launched a national campaign in October 2015 to end the practice in

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Biography

Maiga is originally from the commune of

Bourem Bourem is a commune and small town in the Gao Region of northeastern Mali. The town sits on the left bank of the River Niger. It was the site of an attack by the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security, and Development (CSP-PSD) on ...

in the

Gao Region Gao ( Bambara: ߜߊߏ ߘߌߣߋߖߊ tr. Gao Dineja) is a region in northeastern Mali. The capital city is Gao. Geography The region is bordered to the north by Kidal Region, to the west by Tombouctou Region and Taoudénit Region, to the east b ...

of northern Mali. Her father, Attaher Maïga, served as a

government minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Modibo Keïta Modibo Keïta (4 June 1915 – 16 May 1977) was a Malian politician who served as the first President of Mali from 1960 to 1968. He espoused a form of African socialism. He was deposed in a coup d'état in 1968 by Moussa Traoré. Born and ra ...

during the 1960s. Her sister,

Suzanne Konaté Maïga Mariama Suzanne Konaté Maïga (born 1956) is a Mali medical doctor and public health administrator who served as Mali's secretary of state for social action and the promotion of women from 1991 to 92. She also worked for the United Nations Populati ...

, is a public health administrator who served as secretary of state for social action and the promotion of women. Aminata Maiga studied at the

University of Nantes Nantes University () is a public university located in the city of Nantes, France. In addition to the several campuses scattered in the city of Nantes, there are two satellite campuses located in Saint-Nazaire and La Roche-sur-Yon. The university ...

in France. Maiga oversaw the donation of more than 30 million

CFA franc CFA franc (, ) is the name of two currencies used by 210 million people (as of 2023) in fourteen African countries: the West African CFA franc (where "CFA" stands for , i.e. "African Financial Community" in English), used in eight West African c ...

s worth of sanitation equipment to the city of

Ségou Ségou (; , ) is a town and an Communes of Mali, urban commune in south-central Mali that lies northeast of Bamako on the right bank of the River Niger. The town is the capital of the Ségou Cercle and the Ségou Region. With 130,690 inhabitant ...

as part of a clean-up campaign called l'Opération Ségou Commune Propre (''Operation Ségou Clean Commune''). Additional sanitation equipment was also donated to the southern city of

Sikasso Sikasso ( Bambara: ߛߌߞߊߛߏ tr. Sikaso) is a city in the south of Mali and the capital of the Sikasso Cercle and the Sikasso Region. It is Mali's second largest city with 225,753 residents in the 2009 census. History Sikasso was a small ...

under the first lady. During the mid-2010s, the

West African Ebola virus epidemic The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in West Africa, was the most widespread outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and socioeconomic disruption in the region, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sie ...

in neighboring

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

and

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

posed a major risk to

in Mali. First Lady Aminata Maiga launched an

ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after in ...

awareness campaign aimed at school children, called "Ecole contre Ebola" (''School Against Ebola'') to prevent the potential spread of the disease. On October 11, 2015, First Lady Keïta Aminata Maiga launched a national campaign, called "Education for girls, a means to eliminating early child marriage," to end the practice of child marriage in Mali. Maiga unveiled the initiative, which is supported by the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

, at an announcement in the town of

Konobougou Konobougou is commune in the Cercle of Barouéli in the Ségou Region of southern-central Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest count ...

. During the 2017 Africa–France Summit, held in

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

, Keita Aminata Maiga hosted an event for African first ladies to promote reproductive healthcare for young people across Africa. Maiga is the president of the Agir Association, which was founded in 1994 and became a non-governmental organization in June 2005. She has also served on the National Olympic and Sports Committee of Mali since 2000. In August 2020, her husband was overthrown in the

2020 Malian coup d'état On 18 August 2020, elements of the Malian Armed Forces began a mutiny, and subsequently undertook a coup d'état. Soldiers on pick-up trucks stormed the Soundiata military base in the town of Kati, where gunfire was exchanged before weapons w ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maiga, Keita Aminata Year of birth unknown Date of birth unknown Living people First ladies of Mali Nantes University alumni People from Gao Region 21st-century Malian people Year of birth missing (living people)