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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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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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.

July 4, 2019 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti): The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), H.E. Amb. (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim, welcomes the agreement reached by the Transitional Military Council of Sudan and the opposition.

Attachments:

Press Release- IGAD Executive Secretary Congratulates Sudan on Agreement Reached.pdf

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2019-07-05 16:15

June 11, 2019 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti): The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), H.E. Amb. (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim, today received accreditation letters from the Ambassador of Denmark to Ethiopia, H.E. Karin Poulsen, in his office at the Secretariat of the regional organisation.

Among other things, the Executive Secretary noted the collegial working relations IGAD has had with Denmark. The Executive Secretary highlighted the support provided by Denmark to IGAD programmes and projects. He touched on the benefits reaped by communities from a Danish grant to IGAD geared towards food security through support to Civil Society Organisations in rural areas and to applied research institutions. He also draw the Ambassador’s attention to the IGAD Sheikh Technical Veterinary School (ISTVS) in Somaliland and how positively it has impacted livestock development for the sub region.

He recalled a mission to the European Nordic countries, Denmark included, a few years ago he and his team undertook as a means to promote IGAD’s work and build bridges to Ministries of Foreign Affairs and development agencies. He highlighted how useful and fruitful that mission was.

Amb. Poulsen thanked the Executive secretary for the warm welcome and assured him that Denmark will “remain close to IGAD”. She said her belief and that of her country in the benefits of regional integration. She reiterated strong support to the peace and security sector and expressed interest in knowing more about migration programmes and projects within IGAD.

The Executive Secretary took Amb. Poulsen to the IGAD Centre of Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (CEPCVE) for a tour of the premises and an overview of the programme. After which, Amb. Poulsen held a meeting with IGAD staff members in charge of the Migration programme led by the Director of Health and Social Development, Ms Fathia A. Alwan.

On June 10, the Executive Secretary received accreditation letters from the Ambassador of Turkey to Djibouti, H.E. Amb Salim Levent Sahinkaya.

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Djibouti, 24 May 2019: The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Amb (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim this morning sent a message of congratulations to Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn, Former Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on his nomination as one of the 2019 recipients of the prestigious Spring Imperial Decoration of Japan. 

Mr. Desalegn is set to receive the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.
Amb. Maalim described the nomination as very well-deserved in light of Mr. Desalegn’s exemplary leadership in promoting regional peace and security during his premiership, and his capacity at the time as Chairperson of IGAD. Amb. Maalim added, Mr. Desalegn maintained very strong relationship with key partners who have been supporting peace efforts in the region including Japan.  

Amb. Maalim took the opportunity to praise the generous support that the Government of Japan continues to provide to IGAD’s regional peace and security programs particularly towards ongoing peace efforts in the Republic of South Sudan. ENDS.