I am now in Djibouti for the IGAD 33rd ordinary meeting of ministers. IGAD is an international organization, a REC (regional economic community), consisting of 7 member states namely Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia and Sudan. There are several RECs in Africa of which 8 are accredited to the African Union. But to us, based in Addis and dealing with Peace and Security issues, IGAD is the most important one. It is not difficult to understand. Just take a look at the list of member states: Sudan is at war in Darfur and heading for a referendum which might split the country in two states; Ethiopia is at war on several fronts - internally it combats insurgents in Ogaden and externally it has a silent war against Eritrea as well as a stand by war in Somalia; Somalia itself is war personified and tries to get to grips with international terroritsts setting up camps there at the same time; Eritrea is the "bad boy" of Africa, the constant spoiler both in Somalia and Ethiopia, and is also in open border conflict with Djibouti; Uganda fight their own insurgents - the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) and Kenya tries hard to keep itself under control since last elections provoced hard core ethnic killing sprees throughout the country. Kenya also tries to deal with a massive crossborder refugees pouring in from Somalia.
This is the Horn of Africa in a nutshell - it is the most war torn piece of the whole globe and ones that fuels terrorism and threatens to destabilize a major part of the continent. IGAD is the one organization where dialogue continues to some degree between the 7 countries. Although Eritrea has "suspended" its membership, the door to dialogue is still open for them. Sweden and other donor countries is a partner to IGAD and supports its endeavors through development assistance funds. We are in for some interesting two days here in Djibouti...
Regards,
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