The European Commission has approved five new migration-related programmes in North of Africa totalling €61.5 million. These new programmes adopted under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa will reinforce ongoing actions to protect and assist refugees and vulnerable migrants in North of Africa especially in Libya, improve the living conditions and resilience of Libyans as well as foster economic opportunities, labour migration and mobility in the North of Africa countries.
Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, underlined: “The events of last night killing migrants are a strong reminder of the need to pursue EU’s efforts to protect them and to put an end once and for all to the Libyan detention system. The EU continues to push for the ultimate closure of detention centres and is working to provide assistance and protection to people in need. In the framework of the African Union-European Union-United Nations Task Force, we support vulnerable migrants to voluntarily return and reintegrate in their countries of origin and refugees and asylum seekers to be evacuated out of Libya in view of their resettlement. Our new programmes under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa will help to protect vulnerable people, stabilise communities, and reduce hardship for migrants, refugees and local people in areas most affected by migratory flows. With these new programmes, we continue to support our neighbours in North Africa to respond together to migration-related challenges in ways that safeguard security, rights and dignity of migrants and refugees, in the mutual interest of Europeans and our neighbours.”
Background
The five new €61.5 million programmes adopted by the Commission are as following:
The first initiative adopted (€23 million) aims at strengthening protection and resilience of vulnerable migrants and migrants at risk, refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), returnees and host communities in Libya, while supporting efforts to improve migration management along the migration routes in the country. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Italian NGO CESVI (Cooperazione e Sviluppo Onlus) in consortium with International Medical Corps (IMC) will implement this action.
The second initiative (€18 million) for community stabilisation aims at strengthening local government services in Libya, in particular in the municipalities most affected by migratory flows and/or damaged by the conflict, as well as improving the living conditions of vulnerable populations by enhancing access to basic services, community security and economic opportunities. The programme will be implemented by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The third initiative adopted with €12 million complements the EU’s ongoing Regional Development and Protection Programme, by contributing to the establishment and reinforcement of inclusive services and by fostering social cohesion and employment opportunities at community level. This action will be implemented by local and international civil society organisations (CSOs).
The fourth initiative amounting to €5 million is a regional entrepreneurship programme launched as part of the pilot initiatives on labour migration to strengthen the mobilisation of skills and resources of the African diaspora living in Europe. Expertise France will implement this programme.
In addition, the Commission expanded its activities under the Technical Cooperation Facility with an amount of €3.5 million to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation framework of the EUTF actions in the North of Africa window.
With this new package, the North of Africa window has committed €647.7 million responding to multiple needs across the region.
The EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa was established in November 2015 to address the root causes of forced displacement and irregular migration and to contribute to better migration management. The general budget of the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa is worth over €4.5 billion, with around 89% of the contributions coming from the EU, and around 11% from EU Member States and other donors.
For more information
EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa – North of Africa window
Factsheet – EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa – North of Africa window
Factsheet – EU Support on Migration in Libya
EU actions along the Western Mediterranean Route
Central Mediterranean Route: Protecting migrants and managing irregular flows
Follow this news feed: EU