INTERGOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY ON DEVELOPMENT(IGAD)

AT A GLANCE
Executive Secretary: Mahboub Maalim
Created: 1986
Secretariat: Djibouti
Member Countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda
Objectives: IGAD aims to strengthen and promote regional economic cooperation, food security, sustainable development, environmental protection, and policies of peace and stability in the region.

Improving Regional Economic Cooperation through Results-based Management

Status: Operational
Local Organization: Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
Canadian Experts: Laurie VandeSchoote and Kym McCullen

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is a Regional Economic Community, one of the building blocs for the Economic Community of the African Union.  IGAD is centred in Djibouti.  Since its establishment, donors have supported IGAD as a key driving force for regional economic cooperation and integration in Eastern Africa; IGAD is comprised of seven member countries including Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.  

IGAD has played an important role in the region since its inception by leading and participating in numerous initiatives.  These efforts have contributed to tangible results and have earned the organization considerable credibility.  However, as the organization has evolved, it has also been confronted with many changes in its environment – the need to manage more complex issues, the engagement of a broader range of partners, sometimes with different interests, and the scarcity of resources.  

All of these factors have placed considerable pressure on the organization and impacted its effectiveness in recent years.  The CIDA-funded Deployment for Democratic Development (DDD) is currently helping IGAD to address the need to establish an results-based management (RBM) system as a key building block to improving the operations and plans of the organization.  Adopting an RBM approach would offer several benefits to IGAD including establishing a clear organizational vision, mission and priorities that can be translated into a framework of goals, outputs, indicators, strategies and resource allocation.