The IGAD Environmental Security Assessment Training was conducted 21 – 30 June 2010 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the Ghion Hotel. It was attended by twenty three senior experts and officials drawn from Ministries of Agriculture, Water Resources, Environment, and Finance and Planning of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda as well as from IGAD secretariat, CEWARN, and ICPAC. Mr. Mersie Ejigu, Executive Director of Partnership for African Environmental Sustainability (PAES) offered the training. Guest lecturers included: Professor Belay Simane of the College of Development Studies of Addis Ababa University and Mr. Charles Akol of the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
The training is a follow up of the workshop “Environmental Security in the IGAD Region: an Approach for Building Sustainable Development and Peace” convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 5-7 May 2009 organized by IGAD and the Foundation for Environmental Security and Sustainability (FESS) with financial support of GTZ. The workshop brought together multidisciplinary expertise from all IGAD member countries drawn from ministries of agriculture, environment, water resources, energy, mining, finance and development planning and reviewed five critical environmental security issues: food security, water security, energy security, pastoralism and livelihoods, climate change and impact, and economic cooperation/integration. After three days of engaging discussion, several recommendations evolved, among which were the need for training in environmental security studies, hence, this Environmental Security Assessment Training.
