The Executive Secretary Amb(Eng.) Mahboub Maalim concludes a successful mission at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 73) in New York.
He was joined by Ag. Director of Peace and Security Mrs. Legawork Assefa; Special Envoy for South Sudan Amb. Ismail Wais; Special Envoy for Somalia Dr. Mohammed Guyo and other senior officials and heads of specialized programmes.
Highlights
– Addressed a High-level Forum on Action for Refugee Education held on 27 September where he underlined the need for the inclusion of refugees into national education systems. He further highlighted the IGAD’s efforts to address the plight of refugees in the IGAD region and briefed the meeting on the Djibouti Declaration on education for refugees, returnees and host communities as well as the preceding Nairobi Plan of Action on comprehensive response to the refugee situation in Somalia. The event endorsed the Charter for Action on Refugee Education.
– Addressed a side event on “Resilience and Devolution: Experience of Ethiopia and Kenya, other countries of horn of Africa in Preventing conflict and violent extremism” on 1 October. At the forum, Amb. Maalim joined Cabinet Secretary of Devolution and Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of the Republic of Kenya H.E. Eugene Wamalwa and Regional Director for UNDP Africa Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa as well as other senior member states’ and UN officials to deliver remarks. Amb. Maalim stressed the need for harmonized strategies in addressing peace and development agenda in borderlands. He also stressed the need for synergy and partnerships at all levels among partners.
– Addressed a side event on “cross-border initiatives for peace and development in East Africa” co-convened by the Mission of the Republic of Uganda to the UN, the Global Peace Foundation (GPF) and CEWARN on 2 October. Amb. Maalim stressed the need to strengthen cross-border cooperation to the extend that peace and development planning is geared towards treating borderlands as socio-economic zones. He stated that this would build on existing interdependence and vibrant exchanges already existing among communities in these areas. He also highlighted the work of the IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) particularly in the Karamoja Cluster (adjoining borderlands of Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda) that encapsulates IGAD’s cross-border peace and development initiatives.
IGAD was also represented in numerous other forums that convened on the sidelines of the UNGA73 including a High-level Forum on Somalia which discussed key security and political developments in Somalia as well as a forum on dialogue and cooperation across the Red Sea. # # #
