The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, on Monday 22 July signed an agreement in Addis Ababa, through which the EU commits a further €800 million to support the African Union (AU) in its efforts to promote peace, security and stability in Africa.
This assistance "is in line with the African Peace and Security Architecture and African-led efforts to silence the guns", said Moussa Faki Mahamat in a statement.
Mr Mimica recalled that since 2004, the African Peace Facility, from which the additional agreed assistance will come, has provided "more than €2.7 billion to finance African solutions to African problems".
The EU will support: - strengthening of African mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution; - efforts to establish an African framework for compliance with human rights and international humanitarian law; - a mechanism which will provide the African Union with quick funding for preventive diplomacy initiatives and mediation; - the deployment of African-led peace support operations (such as the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram, the AMISOM – the mission to Somalia, and the G5 Sahel Joint Force). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)