Africa: EU Leaders Approve 1.8 Bn Euro Migrant Trust Fund for Africa

12 November 2015
The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

Valletta (AFP) - EU leaders attending a summit with their African counterparts on Thursday approved a 1.8-billion-euro trust fund for Africa aimed at tackling the root causes of mass migration to Europe.

"For the Africa Trust Fund and our response to be credible, I want to see more member states contributing and matching the 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) the EU has put forward," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said as EU leaders signed the deal in Malta.

The commission said so far 25 of the 28 EU member states and two non-EU donors Norway and Switzerland had pledged a total of around 78.2 million euros in matching funds, far short of the 1.8 billion euros Juncker has called for.

EU officials have not ruled out more pledges at the EU-Africa summit that ends later Thursday in Valletta and said they could also come over the coming weeks.

Senegal's President Macky Sall, who also chairs the Economic Community of West African States, and other African leaders told reporters the fund, as it currently stood, was not enough.

The fund is designed to tackle root causes of migration, such as poverty and violence, by creating jobs and intensifying diplomatic efforts to reduce or end armed conflicts in parts of Africa.

Read the original article on Citizen.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2015 The Citizen. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.