The IGAD Executive Secretary H.E. Amb. (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim this morning  signed a technical agreement with the Italian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Djibouti and South Sudan H.E. Mr. Giuseppe Mistretta. The signing ceremony was held at the IGAD Premises in Addis Ababa.

The agreement between the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation includes a grant contribution  of EUR 500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Euros) by the Italian government to IGAD. The amount is intended to support a range of programmes across IGAD.

The Italian Government is the chair of the IGAD partners Forum (IPF). It is also among IGAD’s  long standing partners previously supporting IGAD’s peace building efforts in Somalia as well as the IGAD Security Sector Programme