The Sixth European Union - African Union Summit.
The heads of state or the government of the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) met for the sixth European Union - African Union summit in Brussels on 17 and 18 February 2022. The meeting was co-chaired by the President of the European Council, H.E Mr. Charles Michel, and the President of Senegal and the Chairperson of the AU, H.E Mr. Macky Sall. Ahead of the summit, EU leaders took part in an informal meeting of the members of the European Union Council on the latest developments related to Russia and Ukraine. EU and AU leaders agreed on a joint vision for a renewed partnership.
The aims of the partnership are solidarity, security, peace, and sustainable and sustained economic development and prosperity for the citizens of the two Unions today and in the future, bringing together people, regions, and organizations. The youth are the leading providers of peace, resilience, stability, and security in Africa. At The Youth Café, we work hard to curb violent extremism, prevent artificial and natural conflicts and strengthen young people's proactive roles in regional peace security. The Youth Café, a safe space for youth empowerment in Africa, actively engages and participates in maintaining and promoting local and international peace and security in Africa and Globally through social media platforms.
The EU and AU Partnership aims to promote common priorities, shared values, international law and preserve interests and common public goods, including protecting human rights, gender equality, women's empowerment in all spheres of life, the rule of law, actions to preserve the climate, environment, biodiversity, sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and the fight against inequalities. The Youth Café works to promote green, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth and decent jobs for youth. We work to increase climate change literacy programs while advocating for the creation of more green jobs for young people.
The leaders announced an Africa-Europe Investment Package of EUR 150 billion to support a shared ambition for 2030 and AU Agenda 2063. The investment package will help build more diversified, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient economies. The investment package aims to boost public and private investment in several areas: energy, transport and digital infrastructure, fair energy transition, just and equitable, taking into account the specific and diverse orientations of the African countries with regards to access to electricity, green change, including supporting the implementation of the national plans of African countries under the Paris Agreement, digital transformation that supports connectivity and affordable and better access to the digital and data economy, sustainable growth and decent job creation, including by investing in the creation of businesses owned by young people in Africa, transport facilitation and efficiency of connected transport networks, mobility and employability of students, young graduates and skilled workers.
The Youth Café is a hub of ideas and innovation, and we know how to create jobs. The Youth Café creates business incubation programs with start-up capital to support young people with great business ideas while providing training opportunities for self-employment purposes. In addition, the package will be complemented with specific instruments supporting: the health sector: support for initiatives related to pandemic preparedness, health security, and equitable access to essential health services, the education system: investment in inclusive and equitable quality education, including by promoting vocational education and training, also at a regional level.
The EU and the AU will leverage public funds to stimulate private investments by mobilizing innovative financing instruments to implement the package. The Youth Café is the place for youth as we provide key education opportunities such as access to knowledge, information, and healthcare for young people. Access to quality education and the opportunity to develop skills and competencies is vital in preparing youth for the future. An investment in their human capital is an investment in the socio-economic future of our societies. The Youth Café aspires to provide high-quality education and training systems that are efficient and that facilitate young people's access and integration.
The European Union and the African Union will also leverage and facilitate transparent remittances, notably reducing transaction costs. EU and AU leaders will also boost regional and continental economic integration, mainly through the African Continental Free Trade Area. The existing trade agreements between the EU and some African countries have contributed to the strengthening and deepening of trade and economic development between the two continents.
The immediate challenge for the agreed partnership is to ensure fair and equitable access to vaccines. The leaders agreed to support local and regional procurement mechanisms and the allocation and deployment of medical products. At the summit, the EU reaffirmed its commitment to provide at least 450 million vaccine doses to Africa, in coordination with the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) platform, by mid-2022. Contributing to this and complementing the actions of the AVATT, Team Europe has provided more than USD 3 billion (i.e., the equivalent of 400 million vaccine doses) to the Covax Facility and vaccination on the African continent.
Team Europe will mobilize EUR 425 million to ramp up the pace of vaccination and support the efficient distribution of doses and the training of medical teams and analysis and sequencing. The African Union and the European Union underlined the urgency of the WTO's contribution to the fight against the pandemic and the recovery of the global economy. They committed to engaging constructively towards an agreement on a comprehensive WTO response to the pandemic, including trade-related and intellectual property-related aspects.
In response to the macroeconomic effects of the Covid crisis on African economies, EU and AU leaders supported the standard framework for debt treatments that goes beyond the debt service suspension initiative. They also called for voluntary contributions to achieve the total global ambition of at least USD 100 billion in liquidity support to the countries most in need, of which a significant part should benefit Africa. EU and AU leaders welcomed the USD 55 billion pledged already from the new allocation of special drawing rights (SDRs), including USD 13 billion from EU countries. They also encouraged more EU member states to contribute to this global effort. EU and AU leaders agreed to fight against illegal movements of capital and money and address domestic tax base erosion and profit shifting. They also agreed to cooperate on tax transparency.
European Union and African Union leaders agreed to boost peace and security cooperation. They expressed their commitment to foster cooperation through support for adequate training, capacity building, and equipment, strengthening and scaling up autonomous peace operations of African defense and security forces, including through EU missions and assistance measures, and supporting law-enforcement capacity-building.
The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to work together to promote effective multilateralism within the rules-based international order, with the UN at its core. They pledged to work more closely together in multilateral fora to reduce global inequalities, strengthen solidarity, promote international cooperation, fight and mitigate climate change, and improve the delivery of global public goods, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and AU Agenda 2063.
The leaders also recommitted to the full implementation of the Paris Agreement and the outcomes of the COPs. They recognized that Africa's energy transition is vital for industrialization and bridging the energy gap. The EU will support Africa in its transition to foster just and sustainable pathways towards climate neutrality. The leaders supported Africa's hosting of COP 27 in Egypt in 2022 and an ambitious global biodiversity framework.
The Youth Café works with young men and women around Africa as a trailblazer in advancing youth-led approaches toward achieving sustainable development, social equity, innovative solutions, community resilience, and transformative change.
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