Brussels, 29/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 28 April, the European Commission announced that ten new projects to fight against the root causes of illegal migration to Europe from the Horn of Africa, and to fight against forced displacement in this area, will be financed for up to €117 million.
The Commission says this financing accelerates implementation of the commitments taken at the EU-Africa migration summit in Valletta in mid-November 2015. Covering a wide range of areas - from food security to political stability, and from job creation to the means for subsistence - these projects will enable the EU to provide “substantial additional support to the many refugees, displaced persons and host communities in the Horn of Africa”, European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica stated.
A sum of €60 million will go to sustainable development and protection programmes for refugees in host communities in Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya; €12 million will finance employment opportunities and technical skills for young people in peripheral areas; €5 million will be invested in the promotion of a culture of tolerance and dialogue in Somalia; €25 million will support Sudan (€19 million for two projects to strengthen the resilience of refugees, displaced persons and refugees, and €6 million for the improvement of food security policy through data collection and analysis); €10 million will go to a regional project to create a more conducive environment for legal migration and mobility in countries in the Horn of Africa; and €5 million will go to a regional project to provide capacity building support to promote greater resilience in the region.
In December 2015, €253 million was committed from the emergency fund, for similar projects in the Horn of Africa (see EUROPE 11456). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)