At a recent meeting, development partners discussed their support to IGAD for the upcoming ministerial and development partners meetings to take place in Nairobi from 25 to 29 March.
// Nairobi high level meetings
USAID briefed the group about the agenda and key organizational arrangements of the High-Level Meetings taking place in Nairobi on ending drought emergencies in the Horn of Africa (HoA). The meeting is co-organized by IGAD, AUC and the Government of Kenya, with support from USAID. This event is a follow up to the Nairobi Summit which took place in September 2011. It will report back to the Ministers on progress made since the Summit. Following the attention that HoA has attracted since 2011, this event also aims at further strengthening the momentum and raising the profile and the level of commitments to ending hunger in the HoA.:
// Common framework for action
It is expected that the High-Level Meeting at Development Partner (DP) level will agree on a Common Framework for Action, to be further refined on March 29th. A joint statement will be issued in support of country and regional actions to enhance resilience and to end food emergencies in the HoA. This will hopefully lead to further collaboration among partners and the realization and implementation of their commitments. The meetings will also lead to a clear roadmap outlining the key milestones towards the realization of all the commitments in terms of investments and resource mobilization.
// Effective coordination
Ensuring effective coordination within the development community is of utmost importance in order to provide the required assistance to the countries and regional institutions participating in the High Level Meeting. Identifying the most suitable architecture for effective coordination and possibly the steps to achieve it is critical and needs to be addressed in the weeks preceding the High Level Meeting.
// A common framework
Preparing a common framework building on the existing regional platform and working in close coordination with the regional institutions active in the Horn of Africa (above all IGAD) is a key principle in DPs support to the countries for the meeting.
// Ongoing initiatives in the Horn of Africa
- A USAID financed Technical Consortium (TC) led by the International Livestock research Institute (ILRI) with technical contribution from FAO has started working on the preparation of country and regional frameworks and technical background papers for the meeting.
- The consortium is fielding missions in the first two weeks of March in the HoA, commencing with a visit to the IGAD Secretariat and continuing in Ethiopia and Kenya to support IGAD and country preparation for the Nairobi meeting and to initiate formulation of a World Bank regional investment programme on improved resilience for pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities (preparation completion by June 2012).
- FAO is also supporting the preparation of a regional IGAD CAADP Compact, initially through dialogue and consultations at regional and country level. The compact is expected to be signed by June 2012.
- GIZ will shortly be seconding a staff member to IGAD in support of its Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL)/pastoralism programme.
// Keeping governments and partners informed
It was noted that in some cases the concerned Governments do not have sufficient information on the meeting and need to be briefed and supported. Specific attention and support is required for countries such as Djibouti, South-Sudan, Sudan and Somalia – as of now benefiting of a lighter engagement from the DPs. Efforts should also be made to inform more fully the development partners engaged about any critical developments and proposals to be submitted for discussion at the meetings (e.g. potential coordination mechanisms).
+ 1 
Twitter
YouTube
eUpdates
RSS