Brussels, 05/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is to allocate €100 million to Sudan to help the country fight the deep-rooted causes of illegal migration.
This was the message due to be announced to those he was meeting by European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica, when he left for Sudan on Tuesday 5 April.
The funding will be assured by the emergency trust fund for Africa which was launched at the special EU-Africa summit on migration held in Valletta in November 2015 (see EUROPE 11429).
The aid will be aimed at reducing poverty, fostering peace and good governance, job creation and the improvement of basic services (education and health), concentrating on areas affected by insecurity, such as Darfur, East Sudan and the transitional areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Over ten years after the conflict in Darfur broke out, Sudan still has over 3 million displaced people. “Our new support of €100 million will essentially focus on improving the living conditions for those who call Sudan home, helping returnees to the country to reintegrate back into society, and improving security at the borders”, Mimica said in a press release published on Tuesday before he left.
EU hails prospect of resolving Sudan's internal conflicts. The same day the EU hailed as “a positive step” the fact that the government of the Republic of Sudan had signed an agreement on 21 March which was proposed by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) for Sudan and South Sudan, following the talks in Addis Ababa to put an end to Sudan's internal conflicts. “The Roadmap Agreement proposed by the AUHIP outlines steps to end the conflicts in Darfur and the Two Areas and to establish humanitarian access, while offering a framework for parallel political dialogue that would eventually incorporate all parties in Sudan”, said the spokesperson for the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.
Saying that “in the meantime, violence continues, humanitarian needs are great and economic distress grows”, the EU calls on the government and armed opposition for a unilateral cessation of hostilities. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)