The European Commission has announced nearly €150 million for nine
projects to support governance and human rights, as well as innovation
and learning throughout the African continent. The announcement was made
on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, as part of the 'Pan-African Action Plan'.
European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica said: "The
actions launched under the Pan-African programme will allow us to
deepen our collaboration with Africa to address common challenges such
as violence against women, climate change, as well as the promotion of
peace, security, good governance and the development of new
technologies."
The 9 diverse projects include €5 million
to support the international effort to end female genital mutilation
and €10 million to tackle discrimination and human rights violations, as
well as projects supporting the African Union institutions, to support
civil society organisations, to help tackle organised crime, to promote
sustainable management of natural resources, to advance geological
knowledge and skills in Africa's mining sector, to improve flight safety
in Africa and to promote mobility in higher education on the African
continent.
The Pan-African Programme,
which was set up in order to...
support African integration, is the first
ever EU cooperation instrument that covers the whole of Africa. It was
established in 2014, and constitutes one of the main EU financial
instruments for the implementation of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. The programme is funded under the EU's Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) with €845 million for 2014-2020.
The
projects announced today meet priorities identified in the Joint
Africa-EU Strategy and have been designed to complement existing
initiatives financed by the EU across Africa.
The Council recently endorsed a new Gender Action Plan for EU external relations
for 2016-2020, which prioritises amongst others violence against women
and girls (e.g. through promoting access to justice and strengthening
child protection systems).
