East African leaders discuss regional peace, security challenges at Kenyan summit

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta rallied leaders Tuesday from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to address regional peace and security challenges.

Kenyatta urged the heads of state and government from the eight-country trade bloc to work toward sustainable solutions to issues affecting their region.

“In the past two years alone, the region has experienced a desert locust invasion, a crushing drought that is still ongoing, numerous threats related to violent extremism, armed conflicts and, like the rest of the world, the region has not been spared from the Covid-19 pandemic,” Kenyatta said at the 39th extraordinary assembly of IGAD in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.​​​​​​​

He said the region was experiencing the worst drought in 40 years which has intensified food insecurity, dried up water sources and forced displacement of people, raising tensions that could trigger new conflicts.

“We urgently need to manage the drought before it becomes a threat multiplier,” he said. “As leaders, it is incumbent upon us to work together boldly and creatively to navigate the multiple crises we face, seize opportunities as they emerge and define a path of peace and sustainable economic development.”

The leaders appreciated the positive steps taken by Ethiopia toward humanitarian access and the peaceful resolution of the conflict affecting the northern part of that country, according to a communique released after the summit.

They also appealed to key partners of the South Sudan peace process, particularly the US, to reconsider a decision to significantly scale down support for the peace process which is crippling critical agreement mechanisms and agencies supporting the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

The eight states include Horn of Africa countries Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. Those from the Nile Valley -- Sudan and South Sudan and from the African Great Lakes region Kenya and Uganda.

The IGAD assembly was chaired by Sudan's leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.