The EU Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) for Africa was created at the Valletta Summit on Migration held in November 2015 as an implementing tool that provides a rapid, flexible and effective response to an emergency situation. It operates along four strategic axes as set out in the Strategic Orientation Document adopted by the Strategic Board of the EUTF for Africa in November 2015: (i) greater economic and employment opportunities, (ii) strengthening resilience of communities, (iii) improved migration management in countries of origin, transit and destination and (iv) improved governance and conflict prevention in particular.
The 2018 Annual Report presents the main policy developments related to migration, and in particular to the EUTF for Africa, which occurred over the past year; an overview of the current state of affairs including newly adopted programmes, progress achieved in the implementation of on-going projects, and the latest developments in the setting-up of monitoring and evaluation systems. The 2018 Report provides also a complete picture of the financial resources mobilised in the course of the year by the European Union, its member states and other donors.
The EU, through the EUTF for Africa, worked with its African and European partners to foster stability and better migration management in the Sahel and Lake Chad, the Horn of Africa, and the North of Africa. It continued to tackle the root causes of destabilisation, forced displacement and irregular migration, including the fight against trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants and the return and reintegration of migrants to their countries of origin by promoting development and security.
At the European Council held in June 2018, EU leaders reiterated that tackling the challenges of migration requires a strong partnership with African countries. This partnership should aim at a socioeconomic transformation of the African continent, with increased development funding, and the creation of a new framework to enable greater private investment from African and European partners.
In the course of 2018, the EUTF for Africa adopted 45 new actions and 13 top-ups across the three regions including cross-window programmes (16 in the Sahel/Lake Chad, 26 in the Horn of Africa, nine in the North of Africa and seven cross-window) for a total of EUR 1.2.billion. This brings the total number of approved actions to 187 for a total of EUR 3.6 billion.
As of 31 December 2018, resources allocated to the EUTF for Africa amounted to approximately EUR 4.2 billion. This included around EUR 3.7 billion from the European Development Fund and EU financial instruments, as well as EUR 489.5 million from EU Member States and other donors (Switzerland and Norway). In 2018, the EUTF for Africa received 25 new contributions from EU Member States and other donors amounting to EUR 116.7 million, and its overall resources increased by EUR 884 million.
For more information: https://ec.europa.eu/trustfundforafrica/sites/euetfa/files/ar_2018_en.pdf