Intergovernmental Authority on Development

The IGAD is an intergovernmental body for the development for the region of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. The IGAD Region has a population of over 230 million people and is rapidly urbanising with a population density across the region of approximately 30 persons per Km2. Around 55% of this population is under 18 years old. The high proportion of youth in this region is projected to rise in the near future, with more than 1.4 billion of the 2.45 billion (57%) global population increase between 2017-2055 to be added in Africa.

IGAD Youth Engagement and Empowerment

The IGAD seeks meaningful youth engagement which creates mutually respectful partnerships between youth and decision makers. For IDAD the contribution of children and youth is valued, and young people’s ideas, innovations, perspectives, skills, expertise and unique strengths are integrated into the design and delivery of policies, laws, programs, strategies, funding mechanisms and organizations at national, regional, continental and global levels.

IGAD engagement with young people is realised through promotion of formal and informal child-led, youth-led and child-and- youth-serving organisations, including their members and interested parties and stakeholders. These engagements are purposeful and contribute to the design, development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, research, learning and knowledge sharing of all sustainable development youth-related policies, laws, programs and institutions at all levels within IGAD and its Member States.

Key priority areas for IGAD in work promoting the role of youth policy are Peacp and security, Migration and Forced Displacement and legal, institutional and programming frameworks. These focus areas establish an institutional, state and regional approach to addressing the underlying factors behind youth offending for the region’s most vulnerable children.

The youth in the region face major inclusion and participation barriers. Limited participation in education and unemployment. Despite ever more global exposure, and technical skills lack of opportunity has led to frustration and a sense of disfranchisement, which, if left unaddressed, may threaten community cohesion, peace, stability and security. To address these issues IGAD seeks to implement a preventative framework of interventions to provide opportunities for youth:

Assisting member states in formulating regional programmes/projects in the priority areas.
Facilitate the coordination and harmonization of regional development policies and programmes to ensure effective mainstreaming of the IGAD Youth Policy priorities in the IGAD member states’ development plans and budget frameworks.
Mobilize resources to support policy implementation including financing regional development programmes/projects emanating from the IGAD Youth Policy interpretation and application in the quest for Regional Youth Development and Empowerment.
Reinforce Regional and National infrastructures necessary for successful implementation of regional youth development projects and programmes within the provisions of the IGAD Youth Policy.
Put in place mechanisms to facilitate coordination and networking between youth and youth serving organizations at the national, regional and international level.
Establish linkages between the IGAD youth and youth organizations with continental and global organizations with similar objectives.
Promote the role of youth in culture, sports and creative industries within the region.
Work through member states and stakeholders to ensure effective and impactful policy implementation; policy oversighting at national and regional levels; and policy monitoring, evaluation, research and development, learning and knowledge management; and,
Establish an annual IGAD Youth Forum, hosted by the Executive Secretary, as a regional platform for youth engagement with the IGAD leadership.