1.7 Strengthening the IGAD

IGAD is a regional organisation that ties Ethiopia with our immediate neighbours and Uganda. The organization was established to promote good neighbourly relations, to resolve conflicts peacefully, and to foster strong economic ties between the countries. We fully identify with the aims of the organization. In view of our geographical position in the sub-region, the size of our population and our commitment to the aims of IGAD, Ethiopia can and should play an important role in this organization.

That IGAD has various problems is a fact. One weakness is that it does not have enough human and financial resources. Member countries do not show the same level of concern for the development of the organization and that is another reason for IGAD's weakness. The disintegration of Somalia and the civil war in The Sudan have also contributed their share in this regard. A further reason, and one that could probably be cited as a main cause for the weakening of IGAD, is the relations between member states, and particularly, between Eritrea and other IGAD countries. A basic tenet in our foreign policy should be to strengthen IGAD by striving to ease these problems.