Summary: Speech by EU Commissioner Michel : A regional strategy for peace, security and development for the Horn of Africa (Nairobi, Kenya: 20 March 2006)
Speech by Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid at the opening session of the IGAD Heads of State Summit(Nairobi, Kenya)
Excellencies the Heads of State, Ministers,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,
I am very honoured to be participating alongside all of you today in this 11th IGAD Ordinary Summit of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government which coincides with the 20th anniversary of IGAD. First of all let me thank the host, President Kibaki and IGAD Executive Secretary, Ambassador Bashir for his invitation to address you today.
Never before the commitment of the international community towards Africa has been as strong as it is today. Never before the European Union has gone so far in its political and financial commitments towards Africa.
It is my firm belief that together you have today an opportunity to shape the destiny of this region for the better. This provides a unique occasion to review the level of our common ambition.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I announced in the EU Strategy for Africa that we need to establish a robust Euro-African strategy to accelerate Africa's development. I also stressed that peace and security are preconditions for development and that regional approaches should complement national solutions. This is nowhere more true than in the Horn of Africa.
This region has been afflicted for far too long by the ills of extreme poverty, violent conflict and cross-border issues. This has crippled the daily lives of 180 million citizens living in the area.
The strategy of continued regional instability extends beyond the Horn of Africa. There are growing concerns back in Europe on the fall-outs of this chronic cycle of poverty and instability: we feel the consequences of large number of migrants and refugees and the risks of the spread of trafficking and terrorism in the region. These are important political and security concerns to all of us which reflect our mutual interdependence.
There are growing expectations in Europe that the countries of the region now have the opportunity and duty to change the course of things.
Leaving things as they are cannot be an option. There is no evil curse put on the Horn of Africa. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement on Sudan and the consolidation of the Transitional Federal Institutions in Somalia are major breakthroughs in achieving peace in the Horn. However, these processes are fragile and cannot be sustained without a strong regional strategy.
It is quite significant that IGAD played a key role in driving the quest for peace in both countries. This clearly illustrates that positive regional facilitation can make a difference when you all strive together in the same direction. You share a common destiny because your assets and liabilities are very much intertwined.
This bears some stark resemblance with what the European Union experienced itself. The EU was born from the ruins of half a century of wars and economic depression. The EU has thrived and flourished because it has overcome long-standing rivalries and hatred. To borrow the words of Robert Schuman, one of the Founding Fathers of modern Europe, EU success is rooted in that basic construct that war has become "not merely unthinkable but materially impossible" on the European continent.
The history of the EU can be a source of inspiration for the region. IGAD has already become a central part of the political and security architecture of the Horn of Africa - its needs to be utilised to its full potential.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am not here today to deliver an academic speech. I am here today because I want to deliver a very simple and concrete message with concrete proposals: the EU believes in the future of a peaceful, stable and prosperous region. We have no doubts that you, the leaders of your respective countries shall rise to the challenge and address the scourges that plague the Horn. This requires genuine political will and commitment. Let's make this happen and turn aspiration into reality.
To that effect, I am proposing to you a regional strategy for stability, security and development in the Horn. This strategy would revitalize and complement agreed common programmes to address the regional cross-border dynamics and ensure that such programmes are fully effective. Let me bring to your attention a few concrete initiatives worth expanding:
1) The combination of borders and nomadic pastoralist communities has been a constant source of conflicts for decades. Let us boost IGAD's Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) which is regarded as the most developed regional conflict early warning system in Africa.
2) Closely related to the issue of pastoralism is the fact that the region is structurally food insecure as exemplified by the current drought. This requires the development of rapid response mechanisms such as a Disaster or Drought Relief Fund. This should go hand in hand with more structural support such as the EC supported Regional Food Security and Risk Management Programme.
Allow me to recall that 2006 is a UN International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Desertification increases pastoralist tensions as much as the risk of drought and famine. The IGAD and the EU should join efforts to embark on a regional strategy to address desertification in the region.
3) We need to recognise that most borders in the region are permeable and we need to devote efforts to reform border controls and remove the incentive for illicit trafficking. This could include, for example, bilateral initiatives to enhance the monitoring of borders such as the Ethiopia and Eritrea military coordination commission; or joint training programmes for IGAD countries' customs services. IGAD's Counter terrorism programme could specifically focus on this area.
4) A key cross border issue to address in this region is the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons (SALW). We are ready to support the Inter-Governmental Regional Centre for Small Arms and Light Weapons and trust it will receive the full regional support.
5) The establishment of the Eastern African Standby military brigade (EASBRIG) as part of the African Standby force is a welcome development in building capacities in deployment of military peacekeeping and monitoring operations. We could support this initiative should it become fully operational.
In addition to IGAD, the Nile Basin initiative has emerged as a promising vehicle of regional cooperation on resource sharing by focusing on the sharing of the waters of the Nile Basin. We are prepared to consolidate our support to the Nile Basin Initiative over and above the Water Facility contribution of EUR 18 million and we are open to consider also the development of hydropower programmes in the Eastern Nile under the EU Infrastructure Partnership Fund.
We have a wide range of innovative policy instruments which are well suited to address regional issues in the Horn. In response to the issue of migrants and refugees in the region for example, we would be able to provide funding (EUR 4 million) for capacity building support.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We shall have to go beyond launching and implementing these initiatives. The main sources of regional insecurity and issues of regional concern deserve a more systemic dialogue process at all levels. I do hope this Summit will kick off such a process which would be followed by a continuous and structured dialogue on the key regional challenges common to all the countries of the region. Such challenges would comprise of governance, conflict, food security, trafficking and resource sharing, security, and religious fundamentalism. The basic objective is to break the cycle of conflict.
But let us be honest: such a strategy based on concrete regional initiatives and a structured dialogue can only be successful if there are no ambiguities and no misunderstandings. It requires a clear agenda with a time-frame and a regular review and assessment process.
This should provide a catalyst for positive action and engagement on regional political processes in the Horn of Africa. Its focus shall be on developing concrete action plans and programmes for government, civil society and the private sector alike.
The strategy should involve the broader region, the African Union and the League of Arab states.
The European Commission is ready to participate in a Task Force to implement this strategy together with other key partners.
This is a tall order and an ambitious agenda commensurate only with the challenges faced by the region. But it will take political commitment and every one's best efforts to make a difference.
Ownership lies at the very centre of my conception of EU relationship with Africa. The impetus for change must always come from within. My questions to you today are therefore the following: Are you ready to make conflict history in this part of the world? Are you committed to engage in a concrete political agenda and develop jointly concrete initiatives?
If you were to jointly decide to follow through on such political commitments, we are ready to respond with a substantial offer both politically and financially.
We are ready to strengthen IGAD for that purpose through capacity building and by means of direct contribution agreements. But this requires first a political consensus among you on the necessity to engage in the necessary institutional reforms within the Secretariat.
The strategy I have sketched out before you today can be a formidable vehicle to generate greater stability and solidarity in the region. It is my firm belief that You have today an opportunity to grasp, a destiny to change. It is our responsibility to help you.
We know the causes. We know the solutions. It's all about political will.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for your attention.
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