Kampala, 27-03-2014: The Second Drought Resilience Summit was held today in Kampala in the presence of the H.E. Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Chairperson of the summit, H.E. Mr. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of Uganda, Rt Hon. Abdiwelli Mohamed, Prime Minister of Somalia, H.E. Mr. Hassabo Mohamed Abdelrahman, Vice President of the Sudan, H.E. Ms. Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary in charge of Foreign Affairs representing the President of Kenya, H.E. Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Awaleh, Minister of Agriculture of Djibouti, representing the President of Djibouti, and H.E.mr. Kwong Danhier Gatluak, Minister of Transport and Envoy of the President representing the president of South Sudan.

The Executive Secretary of IGAD who was facilitating the summit remarked, during the opening ceremony, that peace and security have been priorities for IGAD region and that the development agenda should also top IGAD’s agenda. He also thanked President Museveni and the Republic of Uganda for hosting the Summit and financially supporting the Second IDDRSI Steering Committee Meeting, the Drought Resilience Ministerial General Assembly and Heads of States Summit.

Key speeches were given by development partners of IGAD, such the IGAD Partners Forum, the Global Alliance, the World Bank Group, and the African Development Bank.

In his opening remarks, President Museveni welcomed the participants before giving a brief overview of the history of IGAD as a regional organization. He highlighted that things needed to be done differently as droughts have been increasing in frequency and severity. He noted that his country was also affected by the phenomenon and his government was working towards drought resilience.

The Summit was then declared open by Chair Hailemariam Desalegn. The Summit closed with a final Declaration (see attachment below for full text) read by the Executive Secretary of IGAD.