What is the Intergovernmental Authority on Development

 The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is an eight-country trade bloc in Africa. It includes governments from the Horn of Africa, Nile Valley and the African Great Lakes. It is headquartered in Djibouti.

Member states

Horn of Africa
Nile Valley
  • Sudan (founding member, since 1986, suspended participation in 2024)[6]
  • South Sudan (admitted 2011,[7] suspended December 2021[8])
African Great Lakes
  • Kenya (founding member, since 1986)
  • Uganda (founding member, since 1986)

 

Formation

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development was established in 1996. It succeeded the earlier Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD), a multinational body founded in 1986 by Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya, with a focus on development and environmental control. IGADD's headquarters were later moved to Djibouti, following an agreement signed in January 1986 by the member states. Eritrea joined the organization in 1993, upon achieving independence.[9]

In April 1995, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government met in Addis Ababa, where they agreed to strengthen cooperation through the organization. This was followed with the signing of a Letter of Instrument to Amend the IGADD Charter / Agreement on 21 March 1996. The Revitalised IGAD, a new organizational structure, was eventually launched on 25 November 1996 in Djibouti.[9]

 

Extra-Ordinary Summit of IGAD Heads of State and Government 

Introduction

The journey to transform the IGAD region is outlined in the strategic framework since its first Strategic plan in 1987. IGAD’s Regional Strategy and its Implementation Plans have served as a comprehensive development and implementation framework, guiding the Programme’s priority areas and aligning them to emerging issues in the region.

The formulation of the IGAD Regional Strategy and Implementation Matrix 2021–2025 is the culmination of a long and intensive process that began in January 2020, following a decision to develop the IGAD’s Vision 2050. Subsequent meetings resulted in an extensive consultative process that drafted a conceptual framework for the IGAD Vision2050 and later formulated the Regional Strategy that was anchored on Vision 2050.

The IGAD Strategic framework is derived from the organisation’s mandate. The mandate plays the important role of translating the IGAD Vision 2050 into the IGAD Regional Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025. It does so by committing to move towards 2050 by leveraging areas of excellence and implementing priorities aimed at achieving a sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development. This will be done through socio-economic growth, regional integration as well as peace and security, and guided by the purposes and principles of the Agreement Establishing IGAD.

The IGAD Vision 2050 will be the region’s development blueprint for the five years’ period. The Vision 2050 will seek to transform the IGAD region into upper middle-income economy and an industrialized region to serve as a continental beacon of regional peace, stability, and security by 2050. It is anchored on regional peace and security; macroeconomic stability; equitable distribution of resources and wealth creation for all citizens; infrastructure; energy; science, technology, and innovation (STI); climate change mitigation; and efficient utilization of environment and natural resources.

The IGAD Vision 2050 is clustered into three-phased transformative programme. Each of the 10 years focuses on a specific goal. The first phase looks at application of STI in a natural resource-based economy; the second and third phases are anchored on industrialisation and knowledge driven diversification of regional economies, respectively. The broad key intervention areas are food security, social economic development, sustainable management of transboundary resources in support of development and Climate change management, Peace and Security.

The first ten years – within which the current strategy 2021-2025 falls – prioritises structural transformation of the region through value addition and industrial diversification, commercialisation and expansion of resilient green and blue economies, and sustainable utilization of the natural resources. All those areas rely heavily on technological innovation for increased production and productivity within a peaceful society. These interventions require coordination so as to facilitate collaboration at regional, national and continental levels. They also need to be linked with global frameworks to support trade, appropriate policy, legal and regulatory frameworks including financial market stability that is critical in macro- economic stability to buffer a more liberalised economy, intra/extra regional infrastructure connectivity, institutional support mechanism, integrating SMEs into the production and distribution frameworks in the emerging business environment.

IGAD: Its History and Development

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa was created in 1996 to supersede the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) which was founded in 1986 to mitigate the effects of the recurring severe droughts and other natural disasters that resulted in widespread famine, ecological degradation and economic hardship in the region. Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda – took action through the United Nations to establish the intergovernmental body for development and drought control in their region. Eritrea became the seventh member after attaining independence in 1993 and in 2011 South Sudan joined IGAD as the eighth member state.

With the new emerging political and socio-economic challenges, the assembly of Heads of State and Government, meeting in Addis Ababa in April 1995, resolved to revitalize IGADD and expand areas of cooperation among Member States. The new and revitalized IGAD was launched during the 5th Summit of IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government held on 25-26 November 1996 in Djibouti. The Summit endorsed the decision to enhance regional cooperation in three priority areas of food security and environmental protection, economic cooperation, regional integration and social development peace and security.

 Source: https://igad.int/about/

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