November 24, 2023 (JUBA, South Sudan): The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) yesterday wrapped-up Regional Youth Awareness Creation Training on Blue Economy: Marine and Healthy Aquatic Ecosystems, in Juba with field visits to the River Nile Water Transport Hub and also to the fish landing site.
The training was attended by the National Focal Persons for Blue Economy in the IGAD Member States, Representatives from the Ministries responsible for youth affairs and Representatives from Ministries responsible for Gender. This four-days training and capacity building event was organized under the project: “Enhancing Blue Economy (BE) in the IGAD Member States for Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihoods Diversification”, financed by the Government of Sweden (SIDA).
During the opening session, the representative of the IGAD Chair, Mr. Moussa Osman from the Republic of Djibouti made his opening remarks by stating as follows: “I welcome everyone to the youth training and awareness event in Juba. Blue Economy in the region is developing well from the development of the regional BE Strategy and now we have all Member States having developed and lighted their national BE Strategies to the regional one. Regional events like this workshop present an opportunity to learn from one another on how to protect our ecosystem. I thank IGAD for organizing this training, and I also thank the Government of South Sudan for hosting it.”
In his welcoming remarks on Behalf of the IGAD Agriculture and Environment Division (AED) Director , Dr Eshete Dejen Programme Manager of IGAD AED-Sustainable Environment Protection Unit said “I thank the Chair of IGAD for the continued support to the program. I also thank the Government of South Sudan for honoring IGAD’s request and hosting the training, as well as participating in the training. My appreciation also goes to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the IGAD Member States for facilitating the event. I also appreciate the Government of Sweden for the financial support to IGAD’s Blue Economy initiatives. The objective of this training is to create awareness on the environment in general, and therefore I urge the communication team to continue disseminating the information so that it is not just be a one-off training event. Continuous awareness through different media is very important.”
In his official opening remarks, Mr. Jackson Muso, the Director General for Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Republic of South Sudan said, “I welcome all participants to the Heart of the Nile, and I assure you all a safe stay. On behalf of his Minster and Under Secretary, I thank the IGAD Secretariat team for organizing this training in Juba. I welcome all to share experiences with the young people of South Sudan in the realm of environmental protection. The population of the region is dominated by the youth and their awareness in environmental protection is crucial for future generations. I welcome the facilitators and thank them for accepting the IGAD invitation to share knowledge and experiences with the youth. Many thanks to our development partners, especially the Swedish Government for their support to the Blue Economy initiative of the region.”
The objectives of the workshop included to create understanding the human-environment interaction; to identify major threats of aquatic environment and mitigation measures; to discuss on marine and aquatic environment conservation issues in the IGAD region; to create youth and women networks for sharing of best experiences; to engage the youth on how to develop communication tools; and to develop skills on communication methodologies.
Background
IGAD Regional Blue Economy Strategy was endorsed by the IGAD Member States’ Ministers responsible for coordinating Blue Economy on April 1, 2022 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The IGAD Blue Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan intend to structure implementation of the Blue Economy at both national and regional levels, while fostering cooperation and regional integration as well as strengthening support to the member states to effectively translate policies into concrete actions. It will also contribute to the effective implementation of the Africa Blue Economy Strategy.
