INVITATION TO MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES
OVERVIEW:
The fight against COVID-19 is a race against the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2, hence, implementing a combination of effective and robust COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, with good public health measures are the available tools to get Africa to midwife the continent out of the pandemic.
In February 2022, at the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government (HoSG) Summit, H.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, the AU COVID-19 Champion, presented a comprehensive report, on the pandemic situation in Africa and made key recommendations that were endorsed by the HoSG. The HoSG committed to exercise leadership to advance the vaccination agenda and urge the Africa CDC to ensure greater coordination and partnerships to support Member States to achieve the goal of vaccinating at least 70% of the continent’s population by the end of June 2022. It is against this backdrop that the AU COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa (Bingwa is Champion in Swahili) Initiative was established to scale up peer-to-peer vaccination drive in communities. The initiative seeks to establish a network of COVID-19 vaccination youth champions across the continent to accelerate the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination in Africa.
Africa CDC will be launching the implementation of the Saving Lives and Livelihoods Program in the Southern Africa Region in Lusaka, Zambia to mark the commencement of the Program across this region. The event will provide an opportunity for advocacy and robust stakeholders engagement, create awareness and kick-start full implementation of the program. The event is expected to be officiated by H.E President Hakainde Hichilema, The President of the Republic of Zambia.
This is another opportunity to introduce and conduct an activation of the African Union COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative in the Southern Africa Region. In addition, this will present an opportunity to mobilize youth on November 12th towards meeting our target of vaccinating at least 70% of the population as well as political commitments.
OBJECTIVES:
1) To enhance awareness of the overall AU COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative’ support to Member states at the national level.
2) To increase the AU COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative’ visibility across the AU Member State
3) To kick start regional implementation of the AU COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative
WHERE: Mulungushi International Conference Centre, Lusaka, Zambia
WHEN: November 11, 2022
TIME: 12:30pm (UTC+2)
About the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC)
Africa CDC is a specialized technical institution of the African Union that strengthens the capacity and capability of Africa’s public health institutions and partnerships to detect and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats and outbreaks based on data-driven interventions and programs. For more information, please visit: http://www.africacdc.org
About the African Union (AU) COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative
In April 2022, the chairperson of the African Union Commission officially launched an African Union public-private-youth initiative led by Africa CDC under the name “African Union COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative” as part of the Africa CDC’s Programme of Saving Lives and Livelihoods. Bingwa is the Swahili word for “Champion”. The initiative seeks to establish a network of COVID-19 vaccination youth champions across the continent to accelerate the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination in Africa. For more information, please visit: https://africacdc.org/african-union-covid-19-vaccination-bingwa-initiative/
Journalists are invited to cover the event.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Dr. Chrys Promesse Kaniki | Senior Technical Officer for Strategic Programmes | Executive office | Africa CDC | E-mail: KanikiC@africa-union.org | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ms. Liliane Bilogho Ndong Nang | Advocacy/Communications Officer | Africa CDC | E-mail: Nangl@africa-union.org | Libreville, Gabon Africa CDC, African Union Commission | E-mail: AfricaCDC@africa-union.org | Web: www.africacdc.org | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Follow us: Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | Linkedin