Intergovernmental Authority on Development

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Autorité intergouvernementale pour le développement
Headquarters		Djibouti City, Djibouti
Membership		8 East African states (1 suspended)
Leaders
-	Executive Secretary	Mahboub Maalim
Establishment		January 1986

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) (French: Autorité intergouvernementale pour le développement) is an eight-country regional development organization in East Africa. Its headquarters are located in Djibouti City.

Current member states

• Djibouti (founding member, 1986)
• Eritrea (admitted, 1993; suspended, 2007)
• Ethiopia (founding member, 1986)
• Kenya (founding member, 1986)
• Somalia (founding member, 1986)
• South Sudan (admitted, 2011)
• Sudan (founding member, 1986)
• Uganda (founding member, 1986)

Formation

Recurring and severe droughts and other natural disasters between 1974 and 1984 caused widespread famine, ecological degradation and economic hardship in the Horn of Africa region. Although individual countries took substantial measures to cope with the problems and received support from the international community, its extent argued strongly for a regional approach to supplement national efforts. The six countries of the region took action through the United Nations to establish an intergovernmental body for development and drought control in their region. At a January 1986 assembly of heads of state and government, an agreement was signed which officially launched the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD). Soon after its formation the mandate of IGADD widened, becoming a vehicle for regional security and political dialogue.

IGADD to IGAD

At an Extraordinary Summit of IGADD Heads of State and Government held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 18 April 1995, leaders met and resolved to revitalize the Authority by expanding its areas of regional co-operation. This would create a full-fledged regional political, economic, development, trade and security entity similar to the South African Development Community (SADC) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). One of the major motivations for the revitalization of IGADD was the existence of many organizational and structural problems that made the implementation of its goals and principles ineffective. On 21 March 1996, the Heads of State and Government at the Second Extraordinary Summit in Nairobi, Kenya approved and adopted an Agreement Establishing the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.

IGASOM

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Main articles: IGASOM and Diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in the Somali Civil War

On January 6, 2005 the original plans for the AU to put peacekeepers in Somalia were first agreed by the AU Peace and Security Council. IGAD was mandated to put such a mission, named IGASOM, into practice. In March 2005, IGAD proposed a Peace Support Mission to Somalia involving 10,000 troops, at a cost of $500 million for the first year. Due to many factors, IGASOM did not materialize in 2006. In September 2006, the African Union approved a smaller force, expected to reach 8,000 troops, at a cost of $335 million for its first year. The mission was now called AMISOM. As of April 2007, only a part of AMISOM has been deployed to war-torn Somalia.

Current situation

Cooperation is practically stopped in the current time, because of various reasons:

• Kenya and Uganda have concentrated on the East African Community project, however Kenya is still very active as current presidency of IGAD.
• Somalia has had no functioning central government since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991. Beginning in the early 2000s, IGAD assisted in talks that produced Somalia's Transitional Federal Government in 2004. It urged the African Union in the first week of September 2006 to accelerate approval of the proposed peacekeeping mission to Somalia, release funds and help raise more money to support the deployment of troops.
• Sudan has internal problems between the central government of the North and the regions in the South and the West of the country.
• Ethiopia and Eritrea are at odds over multiple sections of their common border, which creates the danger that clashes in Somalia be used as a proxy-war.
• some sections of the borders of Ethiopia with Sudan and Somalia are also not demarcated or are disputed.
• IGAD expanded its activities in 2008 with initiatives to improve the investment, trade and banking environments of member states. The organization stressed the deployment of highly innovative programmes and mechanisms.

Structure

• The Assembly of Heads of State and Government is the supreme policy making organ of the Authority. It determines the objectives, guidelines and programs for IGAD and meets once a year. A Chairman is elected from among the member states in rotation.
• The Secretariat is headed by an Executive Secretary appointed by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government for a term of four years renewable once. The Secretariat assists member states in formulating regional projects in the priority areas, facilitates the coordination and harmonization of development policies, mobilizes resources to implement regional projects and programs approved by the Council and reinforces national infrastructures necessary for implementing regional projects and policies. The current Executive Secretary is Eng. Mahboub Maalim of Kenya (since 14 June 2008).
• The Council of Ministers is composed of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and one other Minister designated by each member state. The Council formulates policy, approves the work program and annual budget of the Secretariat during its biannual sessions.
• The Committee of Ambassadors comprises IGAD member states' Ambassadors or Plenipotentiaries accredited to the country of IGAD Headquarters. It convenes as often as the need arises to advise and guide the Executive Secretary.

Comparison with other regional blocs

African Economic Community
Pillars regional blocs (REC)1	Area (km²)	Population	GDP (PPP) ($US)		Member states
			in millions	per capita
AEC	29,910,442	853,520,010	2,053,706	2,406	54
ECOWAS	5,112,903	251,646,263	342,519	1,361	15
ECCAS	6,667,421	121,245,958	175,928	1,451	11
SADC	9,882,959	233,944,179	737,335	3,152	15
EAC	1,817,945	124,858,568	104,239	1,065	5
COMESA	12,873,957	406,102,471	735,599	1,811	20
IGAD	5,233,604	187,969,775	225,049	1,197	7
Other African blocs	Area (km²)	Population	GDP (PPP) ($US)		Member states
			in millions	per capita
CEMAC 2	3,020,142	34,970,529	85,136	2,435	6
SACU 2	2,693,418	51,055,878	541,433	10,605	5
UEMOA 2	3,505,375	80,865,222	101,640	1,257	8
UMA 3	5,782,140	84,185,073	491,276	5,836	5
GAFTA 4	5,876,960	166,259,603	635,450	3,822	5
1 The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a signatory to the AEC, but not participating in any bloc yet 2 Economic bloc inside a pillar REC 3 Proposed for pillar REC, but objecting participation 4 Non-African members of GAFTA are excluded from figures   smallest value among the blocs compared   largest value among the blocs compared During 2004. Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database

See also

• List of Trade blocs
• East African Community (EAC)
• Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)

External links

• IGAD official site
• Agreement Establishing the Intergovernmental Authority on Development
• IGAD Profile (Institute for Security Studies)
• Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN)