ADDIS ABABA – The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) expects positive result from the Nairobi Declaration signed by IGAD member states in 2017 in Kenya to improve the lives of refugees in the region.
Talking to The Ethiopian Herald during the three-day long Nairobi Declaration review meeting that was kicked off here yesterday , IGAD Education Programs Coordinator Kebede Kassa (PhD) said the Nairobi Declaration has been set to resettle the Somali and South Sudanese and other refugees in the region through education, health and livelihood improvement.
Therefore, IGAD member countries have been agreed to apply the aforementioned points in the declaration and they are working for its implementation, he said.
All the member nations have better commencement especially in education of refugees along with their own citizens, Kebede stated.
As to him, the countries are working to offer standard education and trainings in which the refugees can possibly improve their lives working in the countries they currently live in and when they return to their respective countries.
These also include enabling refugees to learn in inclusion with citizens of the countries they are living. The countries are also agreed to certify the refugees based on the trainings they have got, he expressed. Currently, the countries such as Uganda,
Ethiopia and Kenya are revising their policies in a way it can participate refugees through education. They are also drafting proposal based on their annual expenditure, he said.
If the ongoing efforts are continued integrative way, the directives in the declaration would be possibly achieved, he believed.
EU Trust Fund for Horn of Africa Window Deputy Manager Ignacio Burrull for his part said that EU has granted about hundred millions of euro to support refugees and internally displaced peoples in the Horn of Africa.
It is important to analyze and examine the progress and shortcomings in the implementation of the Nairobi Declaration for better achievements, he said.
Keeping the interest and wellbeing of refugees is the core of the program and EU would elongate its support in this regard, he noted.
The IGAD member states need to take the program as their own and partners ought to strengthen their support to keep the momentum of giving relief to refugees, he urged.
According to Ministry of Peace State Minister Zeynu Jemal, the international community has been lending a hand to the implementation of the declaration and various projects have been designed to improve the lives of refugees.
Consequently, Ethiopia has been helping the Somali refugees with irrigation project on 10,000 hectares of land, he said.
Ethiopia is hosting about 250,000 refugees among the 900,000 Somali migrants distributed in IGAD member states. Currently, the refugees are working on their farmland together with the society, he stated.
In general the declaration has been shown encouraging progress especially in improving refugee-resisting national programs among IGAD member states in the region, he expressed.
The stocktaking meeting on the Nairobi Declaration and Action Plan brought together IGAD executives, experts and representatives of member states and development partners among others.
The Ethiopian Herald September 17/2019
BY YOHANES JEMANEH
