LOC14:56
11:56 GMT
BRUSSELS, Nov 4 (KUNA) -- A new EU funding for the Sahel region for the
period 2014 and 2020 is expected to be announced Monday by EU Development
Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, during a joint visit to the Sahel region with
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim,
Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and
African Development Bank President, Donald Kaberuka.
This support of some 5 billion euro to Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania,
Niger, Senegal and Chad will aim to help those countries tackle the specific
and complex challenges of the Sahel region: security and stability and
development, noted a statement here today.
Commissioner Piebalgs stated that "the Sahel is a priority for the EU where
it mobilizes all its instruments to address a complex situation. We are
determined to continue and increase our support to both the States and people
of the Sahel. Our approach is built on the principle that security is a
pre-requisite for growth - there can be no development without it."
The joint High Level visit - the first ever to include five leaders from
amongst the multilateral institutions and the organisations most active in the
field of security and development in the Sahel - begins today in Mali, before
continuing to Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad, and will include meetings with
Presidents, ministers, members of National Assemblies, leaders of civil
society groups and private sector representatives in the region. (end)
nk.mt
KUNA 041456 Nov 13NNNN