ReliefWeb

Executive summary

Introduction

At the end of 2021, the last contracts of the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa (EUTF for Africa, hereafter EUTF or Trust Fund) will be signed, bringing an end to an instrument that has so far funded over 500 projects in more than 25 countries in Africa, with a total of over €4.8B committed since 2016.

The next multi-year funding instrument, known as the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), is currently expected to dedicate 10% to migration-related activities. The transition phase between the two instruments offers a unique opportunity to take advantage of the significant experience gained through the EUTF as well as through other migration activities supported by the international community, often in complementarity with the EUTF. This report therefore aims to provide an analysis of the migration, mobility and displacement programming in EUTF target countries and highlight best practices (both by the EUTF and other interventions) and opportunities to inform future programming.

Background, objectives and methodology

The Learning lessons from the EUTF exercise was initiated at the end of June 2019 as a light, forward looking exercise, intended as an internal and informal reflection on what could be learned from the implementation of the EUTF on the topics of migration and forced displacement. The initial findings of this exercise were delivered in January 2020 in a first draft report.

The second phase of the Learning lessons from the EUTF exercise, which lasted from June 2020 to February 2021 pursued the following objectives: pave the way for a post-2020 strategy on migration, mobility and forced displacement; update the EUTF portfolio assessment and contextual data developed in phase I; further analyse the eight thematic areas identified and deliver an updated Learning lessons from the EUTF report at the beginning of 2021 to support future programming.

The research was based on the analysis of: materials from implementing partners working on EUTF projects; in-depth secondary research on migration, mobility and forced displacement in general and on each of the eight identified thematic areas represented in the diagram below; and key informant interviews with over 350 stakeholders from a variety of organisations including EU agencies, most EU Delegations (EUDs) covered by the EUTF, implementing partners, member states, the United Nations (UN) and other international organisations as well as members of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), think tanks, academia and civil society. The report was also based on case studies that were conducted in parallel on relevant topics and projects.