DRC reiterates on youths, vaccine inclusivity at the EU-AU summit

The Democratic Republic of Congo has reiterated the need to recognize and better the lives of youths on the African continent during the just-concluded EU and African Union summit.

Speaking to Africanews, the DRC Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde highlighted other several issues like vaccines production on the continent and further called on the strengthening of the EU-AU bilateral partnership in the future.

"Of course, the main issues were peace, security, the financing of projects, not only at the level of infrastructure but especially youth entrepreneurship because it concerns youths, women, young girls. We must also check on the vaccine coverage, especially with the possibility of having jab production as it is today in certain African countries, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This must also be extended to other diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis. This is what we expected and we think we are heading in the right direction, especially in bilateral, regional and ultimately EU-African Union relations," said Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Six African countries have been chosen to establish their own mRNA vaccine production, the World Health Organization said Friday, with the continent largely shut out of access to Covid jabs.

Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia were selected as the first recipients of technology from the WHO's global mRNA vaccine hub, in a push to ensure Africa can make its own jabs to fight the Covid and other diseases.