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About the Meeting

The Djibouti Government, as chair of the Horn of Africa Initiative (launched by the EU, World Bank and African Development Bank in 2018), is organising a meeting for Finance Ministers from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan to take stock of the changed context as a result of the pandemic and economic crisis and discuss and agree how best to take forward the next phase of HoA Initiative, both in terms of content and process.

  • IGAD attends in an observer capacity.
  • We should include Floods in the issues to be discussed

Topics for discussion

  1. The meeting will focus on 4 areas:
    Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on funding, priorities and sequencing – the health, social and economic effects of the pandemic and locust outbreak on the sub-region and the nature of response so fa
  2. Process of outreach to other partners and financiers
  3. Coordination Issues – How to strengthen the level of engagement with HoA
  4. Initiative at the official and technical levels of participating countries

Thematic Issues

In October 2019 a package of priorities was prepared by the World Bank on a 4-pillar framework to strengthen regional integration. IGAD submitted information on all the areas in which it is active namely;

Pillar 1: Regional infrastructure

• Economic corridors • Energy
• Digital infrastructure

Pillar 2: Trade and Economic Integration

  • Regional trade facilitation
  • Regional value chain development
  • Investment climate

Pillar 3: Resilience

  • Pastoralism – including pastoralist insurance
  • Tackling the desert locust outbreak – NEW
  • Better groundwater management – NEW
  • Strengthening resilience in the borderlands – NEW
  • Other interventions that spur economic development

Pillar 4: Human capital development

  • Strengthening human capital delivery systems and networks
  • Disease surveillance and epidemic preparedness and response – TO BE SCALEDUP
  • Regulatory systems for pharmaceuticals and medical commodities – TO BESCALED UP
  • Addressing the human capital needs of displaced and vulnerable populations
  • Addressing the needs of vulnerable women and girls
  • Addressing skills development of youth
  • Provision of universal IDs under an ID4D programmeIntervention Points
  • Welcome Sudan to the Horn of Africa Initiative
  • Support the suggestion from Sudan for inclusion of Food Security as an additional intervention area in the Horn of Africa Initiative.
  • IGAD welcomes the opportunity to continue working with the partners supporting the HOAI – World Bank, EU, and African Development Bank are 3 of our most treasured partners, who have been with IGAD since inception and have greatly supported the work of IGAD and IGAD Member States.
  • The HOAI is fully harmonized with the work and mandate of IGAD, both are aimed at achieving, peace, prosperity and regional integration
  • The Initiative is broad and all-encompassing covering trade and economic activities, infrastructure, resilience, agriculture, environment and natural resources, as well as health as a key component of human capital development in the time of COVID-19. It also has a bearing on peace and security.
  • These themes all fall under IGAD’s mandate and IGAD has a wealth of relevant expertise in all of these areas.o Our professional and technical staff are a resource for the region.
  • IGAD is in partnership with the European Union on the EUR 60 million action that responds to the health and socio-economic impact of COVID-19

in the IGAD region, and so our involvement in pillar 4 activities is already being intensified.

  • IGAD is building on its regional response strategy to COVID-19 that will address all emerging strategic concerns as comprehensively as possible: health, the socio-economic impact, peace and security, and food security.
  • To inform discussion and follow up, IGAD has prepared a Portfolio of 15 Priority Projects in current and planned activities and how we believe the work should be taken forward.
  • IGAD’s on-going activities that are inter-facing with the 4 pillars of the HOAI include;o IGAD Regional Infrastructure Master Plan (IRIMP),
    o IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience & Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI), o implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA),
  • In conclusion, IGAD applauds the efforts being made through the HOAI and highly appreciate the opportunity to work together and re- enforce each other’s contribution to the wellbeing of our communities

 

Download the attached Speech in PDF below

Briefing Note – Horn of Africa Initiative Meeting 26.06.2021]

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