Jean-Claude Van Damme has been given a mission to promote the DRC internationally. He is set to use his fame and notoriety to advance Congolese sport and culture, but above all else enhance the protection of forests as well as local fauna and flora.
Deputy Foreign Minister Samy Adubango presented the Belgian actor with the passport, on behalf of President Félix Tshisekedi. The DRC wants to put climate at the heart of discussions with international partners and present solutions to global warming.
Not only will the Belgian actor hone in on climate, he will also be responsible for attracting more investors to the country, especially in the agricultural sector.
In addition, Jean-Claude Van Damme wants to convince fellow celebrities that the DRC is a safe country. "I will try to convince Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan and many others. There are also singers like Jennifer Lopez, footballers like Messi, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, they have to come to this country to show that there is security, showing that Congo can protect showbiz actors," the actor told Franceinfo.
He included that this mission was on a voluntary basis and he would not be paid. Jean-Claude Van Damme had previously met with the President of the DRC in 2021.
The man, the legend
The Belgian actor was born in Brussels on 18 October 1960, where he throughout his childhood practiced martial arts. He moved to the United States in 1982 to become an actor and got his breakthrough in the martial arts film Bloodsport (1988).
Van Damme became a popular actor for his action films and his breakthrough was followed with films such as Universal Soldier (1992), Hard Target (1993) and Timecop (1994).
More recently, the actor has been in films including The Expendables (2012), the Kung Fu Panda franchise (2011-2016) and the Kickboxer reboot (2016-2018).
