The second Executive Committee of the IGAD-HAWEN was held at Sarem Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

25-26 March 2019. Addis Ababa, (Ethiopia) The meeting was attended by all Executive Committee members of the member states, IGAD Secretariat, AUC, Interpol, AWF TRAFFIC and US Embassy in Addis. The objective of the meeting was to review the status of implementation of the HAWEN Action Plan and forge ways and means to expedite its implementation. In this regard, the meeting deliberated on strengthening and integrating IGAD-HAWEN and AUC activities related to wildlife management. The deliberation also included on a draft protocol on confiscated wildlife animals and related products.  

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  15 March 2019, ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), in collaboration with the African Land Policy Centre based at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, today held a workshop to validate a Framework on harmonised land policies in the IGAD region.

 Given that three of IGAD Member States, namely Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda, are also members of the East African Community (EAC), it was decided that the convergence framework for IGAD will be used for learning exchange within the EAC Member States as a whole.

 The IGAD harmonization framework seeks to equip Member States with a common reference frame to guide and facilitate the formulation of reliable land policies that guarantee the rights of local communities to securely access land, which is indispensable for attaining social peace and sustainable economic development within the regions. The goal of the Framework is to promote consensus and convergence of national land policies around fundamental values and principles of economic growth, equity, good governance and sustainable management of the environment.

 Participants to the one-day validation workshop were Member States representing government agencies in charge of land and other related government departments, and regional experts. Participants were also from the African Union Commission,

the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa institutions, IGAD CSO platform, development partners such as the Swiss Development Agency, and the German Agency for Development GIZ.

 In his opening remarks, the Director of Agriculture and Environment Division at IGAD

urged the participants to “look critically at the key elements that frame the policy convergence, to ensure that the proposed approaches and methods are implementable and take us closer to developing and shaping land policies in the IGAD Region in a manner that fosters integration and development”. “This will be a critical element in the implementation of Phase II of the IGAD Land Governance Project”, he added.

 The specific objectives of this validation workshop were to review the draft report with a view to achieving the following objectives:

• validating the information and the underlying analysis presented in the draft report;
• building consensus and get inputs on the vision, goal, mission and principles of the framework; the principles of land governance; the criteria of harmonization; and the framework’s implementation plan; and
• Agree on way forwards and follow up actions.

 The draft report was validated as the workshop closed.

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11 March 2019, DJIBOUTI, Djibouti: The Director of Agriculture & Environment Division of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Mr. Mohamed Moussa, this morning opened a two-day inception workshop entitled “Post-Harvest Loss Reduction for Enhanced Food and Nutrition Security in IGAD Member States” in Djibouti in the presence of the Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to Djibouti, Dr Dadamaneo Pissang Tchangai.

Around 25 participants drawn from the Ministries of Agriculture of IGAD Member States are participating in this workshop meant at launching the aforementioned technical cooperation project and agree on activities and roles of stakeholders for successful implementation of the project.

The project will ultimately contribute to improving the capacity of IGAD and its Member States in developing and implementing solutions to food loss and waste at various levels: from policy to improved market linkages and technologies.

Mr. Mohamed Moussa recalled that agriculture development, natural resources management  and improving food security was the priorities of IGAD knowing that food insecurity is still a challenge to the region which receives 40% of global aid.

Dr Tchangai noted that while the tendency had “traditionally been to emphasize increasing food production for increased food security”, there was “yet an additional, often-forgotten factor that exacerbates food insecurity: Post-Harvest Losses”. He said that this situation had “to be addressed and reversed”.

The project will build on past and on-going initiatives on post-harvest loss reduction to avoid duplication of efforts. Importantly, the project will utilize information generated through a continent wide initiative funded by Rockefeller Foundation and the food loss assessment methodology developed by FAO’s SAVE FOOD Initiative. This methodology adopts a value chain approach, includes both quantitative and qualitative aspects of food losses, and analyses institutional and regulatory frameworks and policies that contribute to food loss reduction.

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10 February 2019, ENTEBBE (Uganda): The IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) today closed a two-day workshop for media practitioners and communication staff members from weather forecast agencies of the member countries. ICPAC is a specialised institution within the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Around thirty participants undertook this “Climate Communications Training” which equipped them with the reporting techniques and climate knowledge needed for effective science communication and advocacy journalism. This will in turn contribute to educating and raising public awareness in matters of climate issues and use of weather forecast information.

 The participants were also exposed to Climate Science basics, including exercises on:

• what drives year-to-year changes in seasons of the Greater Horn of Africa; and
• assignments to prepare articles on coproduction and communication of seasonal forecasts.

 This is the third training of its kind. The first training was organised at the Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF 44) in Kampala in August 2016, and the second one at the GHACOF 45 in Addis Ababa in February 2017.

 This workshop was made possible with funding and technical support from the WISER2 Support to ICPAC Project (W2SIP), a project within the Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa (WISER) Programme. The W2SIP consortium is led by ICPAC with delivery partners including the United Kingdom Met Office, International Research Institute for Climate and Society, CARE International, and North Carolina State University, and is funded by the government of the United Kingdom. The WISER Weather Wise project also supported attendance of additional participants and assisted with facilitation.

 The WISER Phase 2 Support to ICPAC Project (W2SIP) is a two-year project meant to strengthening IGAD ICPAC’s capacity to support the region’s National Meteorological and Hydrological Services as well as regional partners such as The Network of Climate Journalists of the Greater Horn of Africa (NECJOGHA).

 During a side interview at the end of the training, one of the trainers in the person of Mr. Patrick Luganda, Chair of the NECJOGHA, noted the training was a response to need to enhance the capacity of media personnel to work with climate and weather scientists in the coproduction of climate products such as the seasonal climate outlook for the region. “Journalists and reporters were also trained on producing the downscaled products with the national meteorological services. It is all about working together to coproduce better climate services and delivery to end users”, he said.

 ICPAC member countries are Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.

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12-13-2018: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: IGAD, with financial assistance from EU, to a tune of 14 million Euro, has been implementing a Regional Biodiversity Management Programme (BMP). The programme has 3 components, namely the regional policy development, the regional biodiversity database and information system and capacity development in biodiversity conservation. The third component was being implemented at three cross-border demonstration sites, namely the Lamu area between Kenya and Somalia, the Awash – Lake Abe area, between Ethiopia and Djibouti and the Boma-Gambella Parks area, between Ethiopia and South Sudan. With the support of the programme, IGAD has developed a regional Biodiversity Policy, a regional Biodiversity Protocol, and four other related strategies, namely, the IGAD Wildlife Management Strategy, the IGAD Invasive Species Control and Management Strategy, the IGAD Biodiversity Benefits Sharing Strategy and the IGAD Strategy on Domestication of regional Policies and Strategies. It has also supported member states to strengthen / establish national and regional biodiversity databases and information systems.