OREANDA-NEWS. November 27, 2015. 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).