(IGAD - Addis Ababa) The  Intergovernmental  Authority  on  Development’s  (IGAD’s)  Capacity  Building Program  Against  Terrorism  (ICPAT)  in  collaboration  with  the  Center  on  Global  Counterterrorism Cooperation (CGCC), convened a three day meeting at the Harmony Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on. The conference, titled “Community Engagement to Counter Terrorism”, is intended to provide an opportunity for officials of the member states  to  meet with  expert  practitioners  and  obtain  valuable  insights  on innovative   programming   and  best   practices   on   community   engagement   to   counter   terrorism,   as well   as   working  together   to   consider   current   approaches   and   lessons   learned   from   within   the IGAD region.

Technical experts drawn from IGAD Member States are meeting in Djibouti since yesterday to finalize discussions on the setting up of a mediation support unit.

1.    At the initiative of the African Union (AU), and within the framework of the Year of Peace and Security (YoPS) in Africa, IGAD has organized a peace conference on “Challenges and Prospects of Peace and Security in the Region” held in Nairobi Kenya form 25 -27 November, 2010. The reflection session aimed at giving further drive to efforts to bring to an end the scourge of armed conflicts and political crises in the Region. The Conference was attended by representatives of six member countries namely Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. It was also attended by scholars invited from the Region, Representative of the African Union, Conflict Early Warning Units /CEWERU/ heads of member countries, IGAD specialized offices and staff of IGAD Secretariat. Development partners of IGAD were also represented at the opening through their respective Embassies in Nairobi.

On 31 August 2009, the Heads of State and Government of Africa, meeting in Tripoli, Libya on the occasion of the Special Session on the Consideration and Resolution of Conflicts in Africa, declared 2010 to be the Year of Peace and Security on the continent, proclaiming in paragraph 9 of the Tripoli Declaration:

Eldoret, 25 June 2010 – A two-day Karamoja Women for Peace building Networking Meeting organized by the Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) of IGAD in collaboration with PACT/PEACE II Programme and USAID/EA Kicks off today in Eldoret Town, Kenya.