Support plan for regional troublespot

The European Commis­sion will this week publish a support plan for the Horn of Africa to try to encourage regional co-operation among some of the continent’s most troubled states.

The plan will focus on getting the seven states involved (Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Uganda and Kenya) to hold regular discussions on issues which affect security and development. These include infrastruc­ture, trade and investment, food security, border con­trols and illegal trafficking.

The seven countries are grouped together in a regional forum, the Inter­governmental Authority on Develop­ment (IGAD), but the EU is keen to see them co-ordinate policies better to tackle the problems they face. "This is the most challenging situation in Africa. It is the area with the most conflicts and the most problems in terms of food shortages, trafficking of arms, trafficking of humans and immigration," said a Commission spokesman.

The Commission hopes the support plan will encourage more attention to the Horn of Africa at the EU’s Council of Ministers and in other countries and bodies which have political or economic links to the region, such as the US, Japan, China, Norway and the United Nations.

Problems in this region include serious tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea and pressure on the Sudanese government to tackle the conflict in Darfur and accept UN troops.

The plan, which will be launched by Development Commis­sioner Louis Michel, tomorrow (20 October), will also allow structured meetings with the EU. No new funding will be announced, but the plan will be taken into account when prog­ram­mes to be funded under the next phase of European development money are discussed.

• Michel will next week visit states in west Africa where many immigrants arriving in Spain’s Canary Islands, Italy and Malta have come from, or passed through. In a trip to Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea Conakry and Nigeria, Michel will discuss the return of illegal immigrants, as well as funding for education programmes for young people. The visit will help set the agenda for the EU-Africa conference in Tripoli next month on migration and development.

The European Commis­sion will this week publish a support plan for the Horn of Africa to try to encourage regional co-operation among some of the continent’s most troubled states.