IGAD executive secretary secures second term

The Assembly of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Heads of State and Government has reappointed Workneh Gebeyehu to serve as executive secretary of the East African bloc for a second term.

Gebeyehu’s reappointment for an additional term of four years came during the 14th Ordinary Assembly of the IGAD Heads of State and Government, which was held in the Red Sea nation of Djibouti Monday.

“I am deeply grateful for the assembly’s full confidence in me as they have extended my tenure for a second four-year term,” Gebeyehu said via social media.

Gebeyehu, the former foreign minister of Ethiopia, officially took over the executive secretary position of the IGAD during the 13th ordinary session in November 2019.

At the conclusion of the ordinary summit Monday, the President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh also took over the chairmanship of the regional bloc after Sudan’s term came to an end and following a decision by the Assembly of the IGAD Heads of State and Government on the basis of the newly adopted IGAD Treaty.

Addressing the high-level meeting, Gebeyehu called on conflicting parties in Sudan to cease hostilities and resolve the situation through dialogue.

“IGAD is extremely concerned by the violence in Sudan and wishes to stress that in war, there are no real winners. For a credible cessation of hostilities, the violence and bloodshed must first stop,” he told regional leaders.

He further emphasized that the adverse effect of climate change is further worsening the existing “widespread food insecurity” in the East Africa region.

“Climate change is adding to the already significant burdens of population displacement and widespread food insecurity that our region already carries.”

Gebeyehu further called on all IGAD member states to embrace and incorporate the IGAD Disaster Response Strategy and its critical elements in their national disaster response plans, particularly for borderland areas. Enditem