Graça Machel, African stateswoman whose decades long professional and public life is deeply rooted in the international advocacy for woman and children’s rights, recently visited patients at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
Her visit to the hospital included a tour of the cardiac intensive care unit, where she met patients, the global telehealth center, where she was able to experience first-hand the innovative technology used to connect doctors and patients across the world, and the Michael Fux Family Center, where she interacted with some of the young patients and their families.
Machel was inducted into the Ambassador David M. Walters International Pediatric Hall of Fame during the 2018 Diamond Ball – Beyond Tomorrow. Induction into the Hall of Fame is the highest honor bestowed by Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Foundation and each inductee has demonstrated a passionate commitment to ensure the health and happiness of children everywhere.
Machel has created three non-governmental organizations in her own right. She founded and serves as President of the Foundation for Community Development and the Zizile Institute for Child Development. She founded the Graça Machel Trust in 2010 where she focuses on advocating for women’s economic and financial empowerment, food security, nutrition and education for all, as well as good governance.
Among numerous awards, Machel has received the United Nations’ Nansen Refugee Award, she was made an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and awarded the World Health Organization’s highest honour, the WHO Gold Medal, for her enormous contributions to the health and wellbeing of women, children and adolescents.
