June 20, 2019 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti): The ICRC Head of the Regional Delegation in Nairobi, Mr. Oivier Dubois, this morning paid a courtesy call to IGAD. Mr. Dubois was accompanied by Mr. Luca Bigger-The Deputy Head of the Regional Delegation in Nairobi, Ms. Dalibroka Topic-The ICRC Chief of Mission for Djibouti, and Ms. Linda Isabel Ngesa-The ICRC Regional Humanitarian Adviser. The ICRC delegation were received by Mr. Mohomed Moussa, the Director for Agriculture and Environment Division. Also in attendance was Mr. Charles Obila- Migration Officer.

Mr. Dubois introduced his team and briefed the meeting on the progress made between IGAD and ICRC on different areas of collaboration including Migration, Mediation, Conflict Early Warning and Peace and Security. On his part Mr. Moussa thanked the delegation for the visit and appreciated the continued strength of cooperation between IGAD and ICRC.

Mr. Moussa highlighted the potential for further collaboration during the upcoming stocktaking meeting of the Nairobi Action Plan on Durable Solution for Somali Refugees and The Regional Consultative Process on Migration scheduled for September and October respectively.

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28-05-2019, ADDIS ABABA (Ethiopia): The Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy of Ethiopia, H.E. Dr. Seleshi Bekele, yesterday inaugurated the 52^nd Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF 52) organized by the Climate Predictions and Applications Centre (ICPAC) of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Addis Ababa.

The GHACOF is convened every four months in order to formulate a consensus regional climate outlook for the June to September 2019 rainfall season over the Greater Horn of Africa region which covers Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

It brings together all eleven countries national meteorological agencies, disaster risks management agencies, and partner organizations dealing in climate and weather forecasts matters. GHACOF 52 comes at a time where the region has been facing a drought situation.

In his opening remarks, H.E. Dr. Bekele observed ‘an increasing trend in frequency, intensity and severity of droughts and floods causing loss of thousands of lives and property in the Greater Horn of Africa’. ‘The sectors affected by the climate variability include agriculture and food security, water resources, disaster management, energy, tourism and health’, he added.

Dr. Bekele recalled that June to September was ‘the main rainy season for the northern sector of ICPAC region of responsibility’. According to the Minister, ‘getting a prior knowledge of the seasonal climate would be a pre-requisite step for the policy makers, planners and disaster risk managers in order to design short and medium term social and economic strategies’.

As for the Director of ICPAC, Dr. Guleid Artan, ‘the just concluding raining season in the equatorial sector of the region the March to May (MAM) 2019 seasonal rainfall has been delayed over eastern sector of the region’. He further predicted ‘depressed rainfall conditions are likely to continue over the coming June – September 2019 season in most parts of the GHA region’.

The Geneva-based Director of Climate Prediction and Adaptation Branch from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Mr. Maxx Dilley, also took the floor to highlight the fact that GHACOF was ‘still thriving after 52 seasons’ and was ‘a testimony to the commitment and capacity of the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in the region, the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre, and […] the stakeholders who have contributed to this continuity and continuing success’.

The forum was mainly supported by the European Union funded projects through the African Development Bank and World Bank. Additional support was from the WISER Support to ICPAC Project funded by DFID, the African SWIFT programme/University of Leeds, and SHEAR ForPAc project.

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Attachments:

STATEMENT FROM THE FIFTY SECOND GREATER HORN OF AFRICA CLIMATE OUTLOOK FORUM (GHACOF52) 27-28 MAY 2019, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA.pdf

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2019-05-28 16:14

20-05-2019, DJIBOUTI (Djibouti): The Director of Agriculture and Environment Division of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Mr. Mohamed Moussa, this morning inaugurated the Strategy Meeting on Youth and Land Governance in Djibouti.

Eighteen participants drawn from IGAD Member States are participating in this meeting whose main objective is to develop the IGAD Youth and Land Governance Project strategy.

More specifically, the strategy meeting is a venue for youth from the IGAD region to brainstorm on land governance issues and possible opportunities for the resolution of those through a strategy and propose concrete actions for a Youth and Land Governance implementation plan. Participants will also draw a road map for the Youth and Land Governance Project (or programme) for the IGAD region.

Considering youth as beneficiaries and active stakeholders at present and in the near future, the consideration and inclusion of their needs and interests in land governance programmes is indispensable. It is hence of great importance to include young people in land governance programmes in order to capitalise and enhance on their capabilities to ensure the representation of their needs and interests.

The IGAD Land Governance Project was launched in 2015 as a joint initiative of the Africa Land Policy Centre and IGAD Secretariat. The project has been jointly implemented with Land Policy Initiative/Africa Land Policy Center at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and supported through funding from the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC).

The project aims at helping IGAD and its Member States to address the various land policy and governance issues and constraints. The African Union Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges provides the basic framework for IGAD’s work on land governance.

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03 May 2019, DJIBOUTI (Djibouti): The Land Governance Project of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) yesterday closed a two-day training workshop on coaching for Land Tenure Experts and officials from IGAD Member States and some Programme Managers and staff members of the regional organization based in Djibouti.

During his opening remarks on Day one of the Coaching Clinic the Director of Economic Cooperation Division, Mr. Elsadig Abdalla, said that this training on coaching skills will help “to take full advantage of our individual qualities and overcome pitfalls that may hinder our effectiveness in the pursuit of challenging and meaningful objectives in our personal lives as well as in our careers”.

“I hope that through this process we will learn some innovative and integrated approaches that will enable us address today's complex and multidimensional challenges in the different spheres of our lives”, he continued before officially opening the training.

After the two days, Anita Lubari Ramba, Deputy Director-Policy and Law at South Sudan Land Commission, said her satisfaction to have participated in and pledged to transmit the knowledge gained to her colleagues back home.

Simone Zurschmitten, Project Assistant in the Land Governance Project, assured that she will be able to apply the coaching models and methods taught to support colleagues of her team, other IGAD staff members as well as a variety of stakeholders in overcoming obstacles that lie in the way of achieving common objectives of our project.

According to the trainer, Marco Noordeloos from Africa Lead, it was a real pleasure to work and learn with such a committed group of participants from IGAD. “Based on the clear actions plans shared during our closing session, I’m hopeful that the learning will translate into real commitments to integrate a coaching-approach into the work and management styles of these talented professionals”, he said.

This Coaching Clinic was conducted by Africa Lead, one of USAID and Feed the Future's food security and resilience capacity building programs for Africa. The training was part of a new collaboration with IGAD under a broader investment by USAID to support the coordination and implementation of the African Union agenda on land governance.                                                                                                                                                                      .ஜஜ۩END۩ஜஜ.

25-04-2019, Djibouti: The Deputy Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. Mr. Mohamed Moussa, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Land Coalition - ILC AFRICA to have a close relationship of cooperation and partnership, with the view of favouring the scaling up of best practices, formulating and developing programmes and projects to support land reform processes, and promote people centred land governance in the IGAD Member States.

This Memorandum of understanding will enhance the implementation of the IGAD Land Governance Project, designed to improve land governance in the IGAD Region. The cooperation between the two organizations shall be based, among others, on the following areas:

• Support the successful establishment and functioning of the IGAD Civil Society Platform on Land Governance;
• Jointly promote and support the establishment and functioning of national and regional multi-stakeholder platforms on land governance in as many IGAD Member States as feasible;
• Promote in the IGAD Member States the integrated application of the African Union Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G), Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGTs) and the ten ILC Commitments for a people centred land governance.
• Jointly promote Women’s Land Rights in the IGAD Member States;
• Jointly expand the work on pastoralist land governance in the IGAD Region
• Promote the expansion ILC presence/membership in all the 8 IGAD Member States;

 In his remarks, Mr. Mohamed Moussa Welcomed the cooperation and underscored it as timely particularly in responding to the need to strengthen multi-stakeholder processes on land governance at country level through enhancing the capacity of NGOs working on land. He welcomed the need to have a vibrant civil society in the region closely engaging with governments to create sustainable and systemic change in land governance at country and regional level.

Mr. Audace Kubwimana Regional Coordinator for International Land Coalition-Africa, emphasized the significance of cooperation in furthering a people centered land agenda in the region. IGAD is the first Regional Economic Community to fully engage on land governance. ILC is excited at the opportunity to strengthen the reach of its work in Africa though this cooperation.

The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding is under the framework of the IGAD Region Land Governance Business Plan whose goal it is to improve access to land and security of land rights for all land users in the IGAD region achieved through implementation of the AU Declaration on Land Policy.

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