IGAD - Executive Secretary

Delegation from Zhejiang Normal University in China Visits IGAD Secretariat

July 22, 2019 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti): A Delegation from the Institute of African Studies at the Zhejiang Normal University in China, headed by Mr. Shu Zhan, paid a courtesy visit to the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Djibouti this morning.

Mr. Mohamed Moussa, Director of Agriculture and Environment Division and Officer-in-Charge of the Secretariat, welcomed the Delegation on behalf of H.E. Amb. (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim, Executive Secretary of IGAD and on his own behalf. Present were also Mr. Elsadig Abdella, Director of Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration and Dr. Debalkew Berhe, Programme Manager for Environment Protection.

The purpose of the visit was to discuss areas of cooperation between IGAD and China, particularly in the areas of peace and security in the Horn of Africa.

Mr. Mohamed briefed the delegation on the current situation in the region, in particular in South Sudan, Sudan and Somalia, including the new developments in the Red Sea region.

After an in-depth deliberation, the need for a balanced approach in enhancing peace and security and development efforts in the region was emphasized. In this regard, the IGAD team requested the Chinese delegation to work closely with IGAD and increase its support to peace and security as well as development efforts in the region.

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Ambassador of Nigeria Visits IGAD Secretariat

July 22, 2019 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti): The Nigerian Ambassador & Permanent Representative to the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, HE Mr Bankole Adeoye, paid a courtesy visit to the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) this morning.

He was received by Mr Mohamed Moussa, Acting Executive Secretary, with whom he discussed a range of regional issues, including African partnerships, the role of Regional Economic Communities (REC) in the African socioeconomic development, regional integration, progress made in the implementation of the revitalized Peace Agreement in South Sudan.

The two parties also discussed ways and means towards enhancing cooperation between IGAD and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to benefit from the experiences of each other.

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USAID Contributes to Strengthening of IGAD Institutional Capacity

July15, 2019 (NAIROBI, Kenya): A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Saturday, 13 July 2019, between H.E. Amb. (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim, the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and Mr Jason Kapkirwok, the Chief of Party of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded, Regional Intergovernmental Organization System Strengthening Activity (RIGO-SSA).

The signing ceremony was hosted at the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) based in Nairobi. Present during the ceremony were Dr Guleid Artan the ICPAC Director, Mr Josephat Onyari IGAD Director of Administration & Finance and Mr Henry Oranga USAID RIGO-SSA Finance Manager.

The RIGO-SSA is a five-year activity designed to provide organizational strengthening assistance to IGAD. The activity is focused on the following core areas namely:

Financial management;
Performance management;
Strategic planning; and
Donor coordination of organisational strengthening activities.

Other recipients of this support include COMESA and EAC. The signing of this MoU is the culmination of identifying IGAD priority areas for organisational strengthening support which was determined through a consultative process led by IGAD through an established working group.

The IGAD RIGO-SSA solutions package is aligned to IGAD’s Institutional Strengthening Action Program (ISAP), which has been running since 2009; and is aimed at helping IGAD to develop sufficient institutional capacity that it requires to deliver on its regional mandate through effectively and efficiently interacting with member states, development partners, and other key stakeholders in the results oriented manner.

Five prioritized actions have been earmarked for implementation during the first phase of the plan. These actions are targeted at helping IGAD to improve its capacity in three specific areas of opportunity for improvement identified by the RIGO Organizational Performance score (RPI) related to:

Improving its capacity in analysing and reporting high-level results;
Strengthening its compliance to international and regional standards; and
Improving the quality of its service delivery through improved internal management systems.

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IGAD and Germany Consult on Development Cooperation

July 12, 2019 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti): The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), HE Amb. (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim, on Thursday received a delegation from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation & Development of Germany (BMZ) led by the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Djibouti & Special Envoy to IGAD, HE Ms. Anke Holstein.

More specifically, the Bonn-based delegation hailed from the Division for East Africa of the Federal Ministry BMZ and came to the Secretariat of the regional organisation under the leadership of the Department’s Head, Mr. Niels Breye, for the purpose of joint consultations on development cooperation between the IGAD and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for the next couple of years.

The German delegation made up of senior staff members from the German Development Bank KfW and the German Development Agency GIZ, reviewed the General context for development cooperation and political dialogue between the two entities along with IGAD Directors from the various Divisions and Specialised Institutions from across the organisation.

Moreover, they discussed and agreed on a Policy Dialogue on the priority area Migration and Forced Displacement as well as a Policy Dialogue on the priority area Drought Resilience.

At the end of the one-day long meeting, Amb. Maalim and Mr. Breye signed a summary report of the discussions and agreed that the next consultations on development cooperation between the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany are to take place in Djibouti in early 2021.

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STATEMENT BY AMB. (ENG) MAHBOUB MAALIM, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF IGAD FOLLOWING THE LAUNCH OF THE EXERCISE TO INTEGRATE FORCES OF THE AHLU SUNNA WAL JAMAA (ASWJ) GROUP INTO THE SOMALI SECURITY FORCES

Djibouti, - 6 July 2019: Amb. Mahboub Maalim, Executive Secretary of IGAD warmly welcomes the launch of the exercise to integrate forces of the Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaa (ASWJ) group into the Somali Security Forces.