European Commission Directorate General for Inte : Sahel region and Lake Chad area- Our work

After one year of existence, the EUTF has successfully positioned itself in complementarity with existing instruments by providing a swift and flexible answer to achieve the common goals and interests of the EU and its African partners in managing migration flows and promoting stability. The EUTF allowed the EU to better invest on key issues such as fighting irregular migration, notably migrant smuggling and trafficking, as well as to facilitate returns.

The first Operational Committeemeeting took place on 14th of January 2016 and enabled the adoption of 10 programmes for a total of €101 million. The core objective of these 10 first programmes is to address the root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement. Activities have started in early 2016, focusing on a variety of areas including employment opportunities, migration management, and building resilience through the provision of basic services.

On the occasion of the second meeting of the Operational Committee for the Sahel region and Lake Chad basin which took place on 18 April 2016, the European Commission announced the launch of 20 new programmes in the region for an amount of over €280 million. These actions are complementary to the first 10 programmes and aim to support the stability and resilience of partner countries as well as to promote economic development and job creation.

The Operational Committee met for the third time on 13 June 2016 and adopted 6 new programmes worth over €146 million in total. The measures are aimed at reinforcing support for domestic security forces and border management in the main areas of instability. They are part of a comprehensive response by the European Union and are the fruit of an enhanced political dialogue with its partners on the issue of migration.

The last Operational Committee took place on 14 December 2016 and 28 additional programmes were adopted for a total of €381 million. Nine of the 28 measures adopted are part of a migration initiative with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), aimed at strengthening migration management and governance and at facilitating the return and reintegration of migrants and the protection of those most vulnerable, while the other 19 measures address other priorities of the Trust Fund, in particular increasing the resilience of the most vulnerable groups, supporting youth employment, the private sector and entrepreneurship, improving training opportunities, supporting the working of civil society and combating radicalisation.

To date, the Sahel and Lake Chad window of the EUTF has approved a total of 66 projects in the 9 countries it covers, for a total of EUR 918.5 million.

The adoption of the Fund's programmes is part of a continuous development process, stemming from a dialogue with partners at all levels and in-depth knowledge of national contexts and regional dynamics.

For a full description of each programme from the first, secondthird operational committees, please click on the programme titles below.

You can access information on the contractual status of each adopted action under the Sahel Region and Lake Chad area Window of the EU Trust Fund via this link.

*Amounts indicated below only refer to contributions from the EU Trust Fund for Africa.

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