Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) – Peace and Security Architecture

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IGAD Secretariat
Avenue Georges Clemenceau
P.O. Box 2653 Djibouti
Republic of Djibouti

Tel: +253-354050
Fax: +253-356994

Email: igad@igad.org
Website: http://www.igad.org

Mr. Daniel Yifru, Director, Peace & Security Division, daniel.yifru@igad.org
Mr. Raymond Kitevu, Coordinator, CEWARN, r_kitevu.cewarn@ethionet.et

Description

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. The recurring and severe droughts and other natural disasters between 1974 and 1984 caused widespread famine, ecological degradation and economic hardship in the Eastern Africa region. Although individual countries made substantial efforts to cope with the situation and received generous support from the international community, the magnitude and extent of the problem argued strongly for a regional approach to supplement national efforts. Its member states are Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Eritrea.

IGAD’s overarching vision is to be the premier regional organization for achieving peace, prosperity and regional integration in the sub-region. Its mission is to assist and complement the efforts of member states to achieve, through increased cooperation, food security and environmental protection; promotion and maintenance of peace and security and humanitarian affairs, and economic cooperation and integration.

Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution and Humanitarian Affairs is one of three priority program areas at IGAD, and an aspect of the Authority’s work in which significant progress is being registered. The overarching objective of the sector is to ensure security in the sub-region and to alleviate humanitarian suffering. The sector’s long term objectives are to ensure that peace and stability prevail in the sub-region so that economic development can take place; and to contribute towards alleviation and mitigation of humanitarian crisis through long term strategies and response to acute crises.

This requires the development of conflict, prevention, management and resolution tools and the use of early warning and early response mechanism to prevent conflicts as well as capacity building in these areas. It also requires development of a capacity to be better prepared to respond to humanitarian crises and mitigate human sufferings.

The work of the Peace and Security Division is divided into three sub-programs:

• The Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution (CPMR) section deals with security and political issues in the Peace and Security Division. In 2006 the section was involved in activities and programs in Post-Agreement follow up of Peace Initiatives of both Sudan and Somalia conflicts; development of counter–terrorism strategy, Coordination of the Eastern Africa Standby Brigade (EASBRIG), Small Arms and Light Weapons, Landmines, Civil Society, Inter-parliamentary Union of IGAD Member States and Conflict Early Warning and Early Response Unit.
  
• The Humanitarian Affairs section works on the priority areas of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Forced Population Displacement. In 2006 main activities included resources mobilization for the implementation of the DRM program; organizing and convening training courses for member states officials in disaster risk management and testing the draft Training Materials/manual; convening a regional Workshop on Avian Influenza (Bird Flu); and holding a regional Ministerial Conference on refugees, IDPs and returnees.
  
• The Political Affairs program is still under development.

IGAD coordinates the activities of two Addis Ababa-based institutions—the IGAD Capacity Building Program Against Terrorism (ICPAT), and the Conflict Early Warning and Early Response Mechanism (CEWARN) secretariat.

Track Record

IGAD is perhaps best known for its achievements in the peace and security domain.

Sudan, Somalia Peace Agreements: IGAD has played an important role in facilitating peace agreements and processes in Sudan and Somalia. Since the signing of the final Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in January 2005, IGAD has monitored and observed implementation of the CPA; contributed two revamped battalions (from Kenya and Uganda) to the UNMIS peacekeeping mission; and secured funding to archive and document the Sudan peace process.

In Somalia, and following the relocation of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to Mogadishu in June 2005, IGAD has provided technical support in preparing the National Security Stabilization Plan, and has been instrumental in securing the lifting of the UN arms embargo to allow the TFG to pursue its goal of stabilizing the country. Other achievements have included the agreement to deploy a peacekeeping force, IGASOM, under the auspices of the AU; brokering talks between the TFG and Union of Islamic Courts (UIC); and documenting the Somalia peace process to facilitate the learning of lessons.

Africa Standby Force: IGAD has been instrumental in developing the Eastern African Brigade (EASBRIG) of the AU-led Africa Standby Force (ASF). EASBRIG will include all seven member states of IGAD, as well as the non-IGAD Members Tanzania, Rwanda, Seychelles, Mauritius and Burundi. The ASF will maintain and enforce peace. IGAD, as interim coordinator, helped put in place institutional arrangements for EASBRIG. At an EASBRIG Summit in January 2007 the establishment of an independent secretariat was approved.

Early Warning: CEWARN is a major component of IGAD’s peace and security agenda. It was established to receive and share information concerning potentially violent conflicts as well as their outbreak and escalation in the IGAD region. National early warning units, or CEWERUs, are now being set up. CEWARN seeks to enable member states to prevent cross-border pastoral conflicts from developing into armed violent conflicts on a greater scale; enable local communities to play a part in preventing violent conflicts; and enable the IGAD Secretariat to pursue conflict prevention initiatives and to provide technical and financial support. CEWARN’s focus on pastoral conflicts is unique among early warning systems in the different sub-regions of Africa.

Countering Terrorism: IGAD has also taken steps to implement ICPAT, set up in 2006 to strengthen and build capacities of IGAD Secretariat and its member states in combating terrorism. ICPAT’s focus includes establishing a regional approach to counter terrorism with a broader international strategy; acting against financing of terrorism; developing operational capacity to counter illegal cross border movements; expanding the capacity to record and share information; ensuring that human rights are protected in counterterrorism operations and promoting educational program to enhance public support.

Peace and Security Framework, Strategy: With funds from the European Union, The Secretariat is coordinating the development of an Eastern and Southern African Regional Framework to address CPMR issues). The Study will apply to IGAD, COMESA, EAC and IOC as a common regional CPMR framework. This is in addition to an IGAD-specific CPMR strategy that is currently under development.

Regional Disarmament Program: IGAD works closely with the Regional centre for Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA), inaugurated in June 2006. Since all IGAD member states have signed up to the UN’s Nairobi Declaration of Small Arms, IGAD agreed to work in partnership with RECSA as opposed to establishing a separate program.

IGAD has also made progress in Disaster Risk Management, with a regional strategy to reduce risks caused by natural disasters under development.

Challenges

Despite its successes in the peace and security domain, IGAD faces a number of major challenges that threaten its future effectiveness. IGAD’s biggest challenge is an acute shortage of personnel, with its modest secretariat dwarfed by the Authority’s expansive mandate and multiple objectives and organs. In recent years donor concerns have led to a series of evaluations that have reviewed IGAD’s effectiveness, with the result that internal capacity has been partially strengthened in areas such as strategic planning and human resource management. However, while staff members are technically skilled, they lack supporting capacities, including in resource mobilization, performance planning and monitoring, mentoring, negotiation, dialogue facilitation, and building participatory and collaborative partnerships.

Another challenge is the coordination of national programs with regional programs initiated by IGAD. IGAD’s representation in member states, based on a series of focal points, remains too weak to ensure effective coordination and impact. As a result, much of IGAD’s impact remains at the level of declarations which the Authority cannot actualize on the ground.

Member states contributions to support IGAD’s operations have increased over time. However, such funding remains unpredictable, making substantive recruitment and longer-term planning difficult. As a result, IGAD is highly dependent on donor funding. IGAD periodically convenes a Donor’s Forum, intended to ensure coherent and sufficient levels of funding. However, as 2007 evaluation of IGAD by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) had found, the Forum “… lacks coordination and a commonality of purpose, with the result that IGAD has received piecemeal, project-focused, short-term support over time”.

Highlighting the support for peace and stability processes in the region as a notable exception, the evaluation report goes on to state: “Donors, who have a key role in ensuring that IGAD has the right mix of resources to promote regional development, have fallen spectacularly short of assuming a coordinated, ODA-effective approach in this regard by encouraging IGAD’s focus on stand-alone projects rather than performance-based, integrated programming”.

IGAD has not so far been able to develop a strategic approach that attracts core funding, with the result that major donors—including USAID and the EU—are either disinvesting or putting the bulk of their funds elsewhere. This is undermining IGAD’s effectiveness.

Opportunities

IGAD’s potential remains significant. Private foundations could play an instrumental role in helping IGAD realize this potential by providing support to strengthen the Secretariat’s human and institutional capacity, build Secretariat-country links, and improve IGAD’s funding mechanisms. IGAD is also developing a project to strengthen human security in its member states, to be executed by an external contractor under the Secretariat’s auspices. Once IGAD has developed a detailed proposal, it could also be an initiative worthy of private foundations’ support.