07 April 2021, (Djibouti-Ville- DJBOUTI): IGAD will be deploying a short-term election observation mission to the Presidential Elections in Djibouti that will be held on 9 April 2021.  The mission that be led by Hon. Siraj Fegessa who is Former Minister of Defence of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Director of IGAD Peace and Security Division, comprises a 16-person team. The mission will be deployed in Ali Sabeh, Arta and Tajourah districts and Djibouti City.  

An advance team arrived in the capital on 2 April ahead of an official launch of the mission on 8 April.  

 

 

 

26 March 2021(Entebbe – Uganda): The IGAD Security Sector Program (IGAD SSP) has successfully concluded a four-days regional/bilateral training to Uganda and Kenya Non-State Actors (CSOs and Media) on the Transnational Security Threats (TSTs) specifically on Human Trafficking, Migrant Smuggling, and their Criminal Proceeds held on 22-25 March 2021. The objective of the training was to provide the trainees with the necessary skill and knowledge about the threat of human trafficking and migrant smuggling along with their criminal proceeds.

26-28 March 2021 (Nairobi, Kenya): The Mediation Support Unit of IGAD just concluded a 3-day training workshop for the negotiating team of the Sudan People Liberation Movement-North (SPLM)-N in Nairobi. SPLM-N is one of the groups party to the Sudanese conflict and the Sudanese Peace Talks. The aim of the workshop was to enhance the skills of the team on negotiation skills & mediation; as well as to provide a platform for this group to reflect on the peace process i.e. analyse their interests, position and approaches to employ to engage in the negotiations. Some of the participants joined the meeting virtually via zoom.

It is recalled that, MSU, through its mandate and objective of providing technical and operational support to peace processes, has been engaging different groups in the Sudan Peace Talks (Juba Peace Process).

This workshop was made possible with the financial support of the European Union through the EUTF towards Promoting Peace and Stability in the Horn of Africa.

 

March 14, 2021,(Mombasa,Kenya): The IGAD Security Sector Program (IGAD SSP) has successfully concluded a four-days technical national workshop on the C-IED approaches to enhance the capabilities of security institutions for Kenya.    This training was the second provided for Kenya, which was conducted back in 2014 whereby the basic concepts and methods of C-IED were covered. The objective of the training was to strengthen the technical capabilities, skills and knowledge of Security Institutions in their efforts to counter the manufacture and use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). In addition, it was intended to strengthen cooperation between relevant security institutions within Kenya and see the cooperation with other IGAD Member States as well as enhance the scope for criminal information sharing and functional cooperation (e.g. joint training and operations, mutual legal assistance, harmonization of policies, practices and legal frameworks) within the country and beyond.

March 14-16, 2021 (Khartoum, Sudan): A training workshop on Monitoring of agreements for women and youth of Sudan that is organized by the Peace and Security Division in collaboration with the IGAD Gender Unit has started taking place on 14^th march 2021. Amb. Osman Bilal, the IGAD Head of Mission in Sudan, has officially opened this training workshop on behalf of the Executive Secretary of IGAD and The Director of IGAD Peace and Security Division. Ms Sulaima Elkhalifa representing the Sudan IWPSF members has also made remarks.

The Overall objective of this training is to build a community based monitoring process of the signed peace agreements and the potential peace agreements to reach with in the country in the future. The workshop is taking place in Khartoum, Sudan from 14-16 March, 2021. It has brought together participants from South Sudan as well to share their experience in monitoring of agreements with their Sudanese peers. During their three days training workshop, issues related to Peace monitoring in the CPA, other current issues in Sudan related to Peace agreements and Women and youth engagement in monitoring of Agreements will be discussed.

The workshop is organized through the support of the European Union(EU)‘s  IGAD Promoting Peace and Stability in the Horn of Africa Region (IPPSHAR) Programme. The main objective of the EU -IPPSHAR programme is to contribute to achieving peace, security and stability for the attainment of economic integration and development of the IGAD region.