Two new initiatives financed by the Italian foreign ministry's Migration Fund will ramp up cooperation with countries in the Sahel - a major transit region for migrants hoping to reach Europe, according to a foreign ministry statement.
The first initiative is a project in Mali to boost the capacity of local authorities to receive and help vulnerable migrants which has been developed in collaboration with the United Nations migration agency (the International Organisation for Migration), said the statement.
The project follows the signing on 6 May of the Joint Declaration on Migration Cooperation between foreign minister Luigi Di Maio and Malians abroad and African integration minister Al Hamdou Ag Ilyene, the statement noted.
The second initiative is a broader regional project covering Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Also developed with IOM, the project aims to strengthen local security forces' control of the border area between the three countries, counter human trafficking and "to assist migrants in particularly challenging situations," the statement said.
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