Addis Ababa- Facing east area Africa Successive challenges and crises of conflicts and conflicts between the countries affiliated with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Intergovernmental Authority on Development)IGAD) In addition to political and security challenges within the countries themselves, in addition to climate change and the ongoing effects of drought, which in general constitutes the challenges facing the organization.
With the beginning of the year 2024, the East African region – which suffers from conflicts – witnessed a new crisis that doubled the successive challenges plaguing IGAD.
On January 1, a memorandum of understanding agreement was signed between the Ethiopian government and the regional administration Somalilandthe latter will hereby be granted access to The Red Sea For Ethiopia, an agreement that angered the state of Somalia, ignited the region and reshaped alliances, heralding a hotter year.
The challenges place a new mission on IGAD and raise many questions, starting with the need to shed light on the organization and its role, the most prominent challenges facing it and the expected scenarios, as well as the key question about IGAD’s ability to overcome all these successive events. These and other questions the following report attempts to answer with statements from analysts, experts, and data on the most important events.
how? When was IGAD created?
IGAD, in its current form, was born in 1996, as an alternative to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and Desertification (IGADD), which was established in 1986, with the aim of combating drought, desertification, other natural disasters, and economic difficulties in the region.
With the emergence of new political, social and economic challenges, the Conference of Heads of State and Government, which met in Addis Ababa in April 1995, decided to revitalize the body and expand areas of cooperation among member states.
The writer specializing in the Horn of Africa, Hashim Ali Hamed, says that IGAD – which is based in Djibouti – is described as a sub-regional African governmental organization, with renewed goals: food security, environmental protection and peace, promotion of human rights, and economic integration.
What are the goals of IGAD and the countries affiliated with it?
Hamed explained to Al Jazeera Net that the organization has two dimensions: international in reducing the burden on United nations Towards the problems of East African countries andHorn of Africa In general, while it is entrusted with confronting the problems and concerns of the region, in addition to the regional dimension in the countries to which it belongs.
He pointed out that the motivation behind establishing the authority is the vision that the peoples of the region will develop regional identity, live in peace, and enjoy a safe environment that alleviates poverty through appropriate and effective sustainable development programs.
This organization – which is headquartered in Djibouti – includes 8 countries in the east of the continent as members: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Eritrea, and South Sudan.
What are the most important challenges facing IGAD?
Observers and political analysts believe that IGAD is currently facing a dilemma due to many thorny and complex issues, and there are 5 of the organization’s 8 countries in the eye of the storm: Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, and South Sudan, where they are witnessing many crises and events.
The researcher and specialist in African affairs, Abdul Qadir Muhammad Ali, summarizes IGAD’s challenges in 4 main issues, saying, “IGAD faces a set of intertwined challenges linked to many levels, whether at the state or regional level, the first of which is climate change, especially since the reason for the organization’s establishment is development, and its severe effects.” It is considered one of the driest regions in the world.”
Ali explained – to Al Jazeera Net – that climate change has devastating effects that go beyond the population’s loss of their resources, and these effects are linked to internal displacement and the resulting frictions and pressure on the already scarce resources and services that countries provide to indigenous people.
He continued that one of the challenges that the countries of the region suffer from is that they are classified as among the most fragile countries due to the absence of rational policies in governance, weak state building, and the spread of corruption and nepotism, pointing to the conflicts and conflicts in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia against “Tigray,” and Somalia in front of the Al-Shabaab movement, all of which represent challenges. In front of IGAD.
He added that relations between the countries of the region are built on mistrust, and the political environment is an area of quicksand that constantly witnesses the formation and disintegration of alliances and the resulting outbreak of wars between these countries and tensions in the region that lacks a strong security and collective action system capable of establishing principles of stability and peace agreed upon by the countries.
The researcher believes that the region has become a conflict zone for international and regional powers, and is witnessing a state of global competition to gain a foothold, and thus this affects the nature of the alliances in the region and the connections of these events abroad, especially since external parties care about their gains without considering the prices that the peoples of the region pay from the conflicts.
While Hamid believes that the issue of disagreement between Somalia and Ethiopia – regarding the memorandum of understanding that the latter concluded with the Somaliland region “Somaland” – represents a new challenge, in addition to many doubts that are coming its way from several member states, as Eritrea only recently joined the organization as an example. For lack of trust.
He explained that despite the narrow geographical area of the organization’s countries, and the geographical proximity, intermingling of peoples, and similarity of concerns they represent, IGAD has so far failed to employ these positive aspects for the goal of peace, which is considered the most serious challenge facing the organization.
The Somali government expressed its rejection of the agreement concluded between “Somaliland” and Ethiopia, and summoned its ambassador to Addis Ababa For consultation, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Berri indicated that his country “will defend its lands by all possible legal means.”
IGAD issued a statement in which it stated that it was “seriously monitoring the situation and is aware of the potential repercussions on regional stability” and called on the leaders of IGAD and the two brotherly countries to cooperate in reaching a peaceful and amicable solution to the situation, and to support the common values that unite the IGAD family.
The organization’s statement faced sharp criticism from Somalia, which expressed its “deep dissatisfaction and disappointment” regarding it. Mogadishu said that IGAD’s statement “does not amount to condemning the Ethiopian government for violating Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that it “does not agree with the content and considers it to be in the interest of the Ethiopian government” and called on the regional bloc to “immediately apologize, withdraw the statement and take appropriate action.”
I expressed #Djibouti Expressed its concern about the growing tensions between… #Somalia And #Ethiopia.
According to a statement by the Djiboutian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it expresses its commitment to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all IGAD member states and the issues to be resolved between the two countries through dialogue.
Share your ideas #The United Arab Emirates pic.twitter.com/XFt6xb0XF1— Hassan Aweis (@mansoor8) January 8, 2024
To what extent is the organization able to overcome these challenges?
Hashim Ali Hamed believes that the organization’s position and interaction with events and crises is what will determine its ability and the extent of its survival. He said that the memorandum of understanding signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland will be a real test for the organization and the level of its reaction to these crises.
He added that, by virtue of its regional weight and international recognition, IGAD should have had a tangible, effective role, whether in political or other aspects.
Hamed considered that the issue of the war in Sudan is the greatest evidence of the failure of the organization when it did not achieve consensus from both sides of the conflict, so that this would bear fruit in reaching a solution. Rather, what the issue of the “Sudan War” represented goes beyond failure to accuse the organization of not being impartial on the part of the Sudanese government, Which is still causing it to crash in the file, according to what he put it.
What obstacles does the organization suffer from and how does it confront them?
Researcher Ali attributes the obstacles facing the organization to internal differences between countries, as they lead to the disruption of IGAD’s work and continuously hamper its effectiveness and role. He said, “What hinders the organization’s work is the totality of the challenges that countries suffer from and the successive conflicts among them.”
He believes that the solution to these crises begins with countries in terms of looking at the fragility they suffer from, and working to address them by rationalizing governance and activating the work of civil society to confront the challenges.
Regarding the challenges of climate change, he stresses the need to be guided by the opinion of local communities in the affected areas, as they are best able to understand these challenges and changes, address them, and explore appropriate and sustainable tools, and that transferring this expertise between countries will contribute to resolving crises.
It stresses the importance of forming a collective security system for the countries of the region and linking the countries concerned with a network of security, economic, and cross-border interests at more than one level that motivates these countries to engage in joint collective action.
While Hamid sees the importance of transparency between the leaders and governments of the countries of the region before asking the organization to play its role, he said, “The complex problems facing the Horn of Africa region require transparency between its countries and their rulers in alleviating these crises, before looking at what IGAD offers.”
He added that IGAD must correct its situation and work towards its goals of achieving cooperation between the countries and peoples of the region, in addition to food security, environmental protection and peace, the promotion of human rights, and economic integration.
The Executive Secretary of IGAD expresses his concern about relations between Somalia and Ethiopia.
He did not criticize Ethiopia’s intention to recognize Somaliland or give 20% of the water in the Red Sea. pic.twitter.com/odAQAelFgi
—Samsam Ismail Alkahin. (@SIK0022) January 3, 2024
What are the expected scenarios for these challenges?
According to observers, the recent agreement could weaken the stability of the entire region, especially by disrupting possible talks between Somalia and Somaliland, especially since the Somali authorities and the breakaway Somaliland region announced talks last week mediated by the President of Djibouti. Ismail GilehIt is the first of its kind since the failure of the last talks in 2020.
Political circles expect events to develop and transform from a diplomatic and political conflict into a security tension that may threaten the existence of the organization.
