World News, Africa

The EU provides another €750 million to support peace and security efforts in Africa

Today the EU has adopted an action program that will provide up to €750 million during the period 2014-2016 to support peace and security in Africa. The new funding had been announced by the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, at the Africa-EU summit in April and will be channeled through the African Peace Facility (APF) to support the African Union and African sub-regional organizations in their peace and security efforts. An initial amount of €325 million will be committed for 2014 and funding will rapidly be made available to support ongoing peace operations.

The APF is a central instrument in cooperation between Africa and the EU on peace and security. With today’s action program, the APF will continue to support the following three main areas: African-led peace operations, the strengthening of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and quick impact actions aimed at conflict prevention and crisis management.

World News, Africa

BREAKING: EU imposes sanctions on South Sudanese military leaders

The EU today imposed sanctions against two individuals it said were “obstructing the South Sudanese peace process and responsible for atrocities,” as part of wider EU efforts to stop violence and avoid further instability in the region. The EU failed to mention the names of the