Who We Are
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Youth Program is dedicated to fostering youth engagement and participation within the Africa CDC and the broader public health sector across Africa. Our program strengthens the role of youth in realizing Africa CDC’s vision of a safer, healthier, and more prosperous Africa.
We work to integrate youth into Africa CDC’s mission to strengthen Africa’s public health institutions and systems’ capacities, capabilities, and partnerships to timely prevent, detect, and respond effectively to public health threats and outbreaks based on evidence-based policies, programs, and interventions.
Learn more about our journey with youth below:
Our Timeline
From the launch of the African Union (AU) COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative in April 2022, jointly led by the Africa CDC and the AU’s Women, Gender, Development, and Youth Directorate, to the present Youth Engagement Strategy of 2024, designed to foster a supportive policy framework for youth leadership in defining Africa’s New Public Health Order, this timeline shows the journey leading to this point.
The African Union (AU) COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative, launched in April 2022, co-led by the Africa CDC and AU’s Women, Gender, Development and Youth Directorate (WGYD) was the first Africa CDC initiative that harnessed the energy and creativity of African youth to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Young ambassadors or “Bingwas” have been selected from various regions of the continent to mobilise community leaders, influential individuals and community members to get vaccinated and promote vaccine acceptance.
To date, over 200 Bingwas have been trained and deployed across Eastern and Southern Africa.
AU COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative Event at the APRM Symposium in Uganda: On the margins of the Third (3rd) Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Youth Symposium, the President of Uganda, H.E. Yoweri Museveni pledged support to the African Union (AU) COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa initiative which aims to accelerate the number of vaccinations to 70% across the African continent by the end of 2022.
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AU COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative Planning meeting and Scalable Models Workshop in Lagos, Nigeria:
The event, titled ‘AU COVID-19 vaccination Bingwa Initiative Planning meeting and COVID-19 vaccination scalable models workshop concept note’, was in partnership with TRACE television, Mastercard and GIZ.The event was graced by Ngwenya Prudence Nonkululeko, director of women, gender and youth directorate at the African Union Commission; and Chrys Promesse Kaniki, senior technical officer for strategic programmes, Africa CDC executive office.
AU COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative and AUC Youth Envoy Office Side Event at the One Young World Summit, Manchester, UK
AU COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative and AUC Youth Envoy Office Side Event at UNGA 2023, New York, USA
Africa CDC at the IntraHealth SwitchPoint Event during the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, Washington DC, USA.
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Launch of SLL Phase 1 in the Southern Region and AU COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative Activation in Lusaka, Zambia, November 2022.
The Africa CDC convened the inaugural Youth Pre-Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, at the margins of CPHIA 2022. Under the theme, ‘Meaningful youth engagement for advancing sustainable health security in Africa,’ the inaugural YPC kick-started a long-term strategic engagement between Africa CDC and young people in Africa.
Following the robust engagement with the youth during the 2023 Youth Pre-conference and as part of implementing the recommendations, the Africa CDC Acting Director announced the appointment of the inaugural Youth Advisory Team for Health (YAT4H), effective 1 February 2023.
AU COVID-19 Vaccination Bingwa Initiative Activation-Vaccination Drive in Sembabule, Uganda
