The EU is to strengthen cooperation on migration and economic development with African partners by allocating EUR 1.8 B to the Union's Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.

This is expected to happen at the international summit on migration, which is taking place in Valletta on Wednesday and Thursday.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is expected to sign the the EU's Emergency Trust Fund for Africa on Thursday.

The fund is one of the tools set up to urgently respond to the ongoing refugee crisis, the website of the European Commission informs.

The fund will receive EUR 1.8 B of funding from the European Commission, complemented with financing from a number of EU member states and other donors.

The international summit in the Maltese capital brings together the Heads of State or Government of European and African countries in an attempt to reinforce cooperation in the area of migration and address the current challenges and opportunities.

Representatives of international and regional organisations, such as the African Union Commission, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, the UN, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) have also been invited to participate at the summit.

The EU will be represented by Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica.

The participants at the summit are expected to recognise that migration is a shared responsibility of countries of origin, transit and destination.

The discussion will focus on five specific areas: addressing the root causes of migration; improving work on promoting and organising legal migration channels; enhancing the protection of migrants and asylum seekers; tackling more effectively the exploitation and trafficking of migrants; improving cooperation on return and readmission.

The summit will be followed by an informal meeting of the EU's Heads of State or Government on Thursday.

The meeting, which is to discuss the latest developments in the migration crisis, was convened by Tusk last week.

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