H.E. Dr.Abdulla bin Abdulaziz al-Rabiah, the Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief) in Riyad, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and H.E. Amb (Eng) Mahboub Maalim the Executive Secretary of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) today the 08/06/2017 signed a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) between the two institutions. The MOC will enable both parties to assume their responsibilities in a more effective manner, and consequently will complement, enhance and promote quality and enhance effectiveness of activities conducted by both Parties which shall contribute directly to the amelioration of living conditions of the people of the IGAD region.

In his short address after the signing ceremony H.E. Dr.Abdulla bin Abdulaziz al-Rabiah, a world renowned pediatric surgeon underscored the importance of responding in a timely manner and caring for those in need. The Supervisor General directed technical teams from both parties to work within the framework of their respective mandates and activities, to design and implement joint cooperation in the fields of Food and Economic Security, Social Development, Combating Insecurity and Illegal Migration and Promotion of Private Sector Investments. Among these areas, value addition of livestock and non-livestock dry land products, education, social protection, building communities structures and youth employment and wealth creation will receive special emphasis.

On his part the ES, H.E. Amb (Eng) Mahboub Maalim, an experienced water engineer and a rural development expert, appreciated the proposed support by KSRelief and pointed out that there has been a paradigm shift in IGAD – with emphasis being placed on designing interventions that enhance the resilience of the target communities. The ES added that the interventions were purposefully designed to create wealth and employment among the youth and women even among displaced populations. The ES was accompanied by Dr. Solomon Muchina Munyua, the Director of the IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development (ICPALD), Farah Abdisamed, Humanitarian Officer IGAD and Abdikarim Mohamed, of the Somalia Facilitation Office.

Both parties agreed to fast track the rolling out of the MOC

06-06-2017, Djibouti (Djibouti): The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), HE Amb (Eng) Mahboub Maalim, was a work visit to Berlin, Germany, between May 29th and 31st where he did meet with high level officials and Members of Parliament.

29-05-2017, Djibouti (Djibouti): The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), H.E. Amb (Eng) Mahboub Maalim, yesterday received a joint delegation from the Horn Economic & Social Policy Institute (HESPI) and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) in his office at the IGAD Secretariat in Djibouti.

The delegation from the Addis Ababa based HESPI was made up of Dr Ali Issa Abdi, Managing Director of HESPI, and Dr Haile Tye, Senior Researcher-HESP, while ACBF was represented by Dr Siaka Coulibaly, Senior Program Officer. 

The delegation came to visit IGAD within the framework of the partnership agreement between IGAD and HESPI to support capacity building for evidence–based policy making under the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) funding.

The overall objective was to discuss the status of implementation of the activities that HESPI is currently undertaking under its partnership with IGAD.

The joint delegation was received by the Executive Secretary and a team from the Economic Cooperation Division of IGAD who did brief them on the progress made so far in the areas of the modalities for negotiations to join the tripartite Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the formation of the truck-owners association, the implementation of the tourism master plan, the public private partnership under the IGAD Business Forum, and trade and investment status in the IGAD region.

The HESPI team also updated their counterparts on the development of the regional econometric model and the where-house receipt system and other tasks that they have been contracted for.

HESPI is an implementing partner of IGAD working on the Grant received from ACBF for regional integration.

May 25, 2017, Djibouti (Djibouti): The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, H.E. Amb (Eng) Mahboub Maalim, today actively participated in the European Union (EU)-East Africa Regional Seminar held in Djibouti.

This EU-East Africa Regional Seminar was gathering high level representatives from IGAD, the East African Community (EAC), the Common Eastern and Southern Africa Market (COMESA), and Ministers and officials from their member states, along with officials from the EU headquarters and country delegations in the presence of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN).

The Seminar was aiming at refocusing the 11th European Development Fund towards implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and addressing emerging challenges in the East Africa region.

Amb Maalim contributed to the plenary discussions on the way to the upcoming midterm review of the EU 11th EDF.

IGAD Executive Secretary was also a member of a panel which presented on “Stability, Security and Countering Violent Extremism, and the European Union Emergency trust Fund for Africa” along with the Director General for International Cooperation and Development of the EU and the State Minister of Planning, Investment and Economic Development of Somalia.

During his intervention as a panelist, Amb Maalim highlighted that peace and Security were a high level priority area for IGAD through early warning mechanisms, mediation, security sector programmes. He nevertheless noted the importance of preventing violent extremism and irregular migration that should be seen as interlinked. “IGAD has running programmes in the areas I mentioned and many of them are made possible with support from the EU”, he said. 

Amb Maalim also pointed out to the commitment by IGAD heads of state and government to sustainable solutions for refugees during the recent Summit held in Nairobi in March 2017. He briefed the audience of the most recent achievements of IGAD such the establishment in Djibouti of the IGAD Center of Excellence in Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism.

25-05-2017, Djibouti (Djibouti): The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, H.E. Amb (Eng) Mahboub Maalim, yesterday visited the Speaker of the National Assembly of Djibouti, Hon. Mohamed Ali Houmed .

Amb Maalim was warmly welcomed by Mr. Speaker Hon. Mohamed who briefed him about the various activities in which the Parliament is engaged, and expressed interest in working with IGAD Secretariat on building capacity of Member of Parliaments through creation of awareness on the many activities IGAD is undertaking: for instance on the domestication of the IGAD policy and legal frameworks and Strategies. 

The Speaker Hon. Mohamed recalled that the Parliament of Djibouti was part of the Inter-Parliamentary Union of IGAD (IPU-IGAD) and that the Djiboutian Members of Parliament were actively engaged in the Union’s activities.

IGAD Executive Secretary praised the Hon. Speaker of the National Assembly of Djibouti for his interest in working with IGAD, the Regional Economic Community covering the Horn of Africa of which Djibouti is part of and assured him of his support in areas of mutual benefit for both institutions. .

The two parties agreed on further engagement by technical staff from both Institutions on areas that will create a better understanding of IGAD activities.

24-05-2017, Djibouti (Djibouti): The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), HE Amb (Eng) Mahboub Maalim, sends his warm congratulations to the newly elected Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, who happens to be the first African to officiate at this prestigious position. 

 “It gives me a great pleasure to congratulate you, on behalf of IGAD and on my own, upon your historic election at the head of the WHO. Your victory is a symbol of an ever African rising unity in the international arena”, Amb Maalim said. 

Dr. Tedros Adhanom has proven himself an accomplished statesman who will be in the best position to fulfill his mandate as the new head of WHO. 

H.E Amb Maalim wishes Dr. Tedros a most successful tenure in his new endeavor and reassures him of IGAD support.