IGAD’s Impartiality Is Under Scrutiny 1/3
By Dr. Ahmed A. Bagi (PhD)
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) was established in 1996 to replace the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD), founded in 1986. IGAD member states are the Republic of Sudan (1986), the Republic of Djibouti (1986), the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (1986), the Republic of Uganda (1986), the Republic of Kenya (1986), the Federal Republic of Somalia (1986), the Republic of Eritrea (1993), and the Republic of South Sudan (2003). The agreement establishing IGAD broadened the scope of regional cooperation where twenty areas of cooperation are included in the new organizational structure. The IGAD Regional Strategy (2011-15) grouped these different areas of cooperation into four Pillars: Pillar I: Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment; Pillar II: Economic Cooperation, Integration, and Social Development; Pillar III: Peace and Security; and Humanitarian Affairs; Pillar IV: Corporate Development Services.
The establishment of ‘Political and Humanitarian Development’, later renamed the Peace and Security Division (PSD) in 2003, marks the expansion of IGAD’s mandate to encompass political and economic development issues. The Peace and Security Division’s primary focus encompasses the following areas: Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, Prevention and Management of Trans-national Security Threats, Governance, Democracy, Rule of Law, and Human Rights, as well as Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development, and Humanitarian Affairs.
This contribution will examine the IGAD’s position regarding the current conflict in Sudan, based on the mentioned objectives of the Peace and Security Division. Nevertheless, reality shows, that IGAD has dismayed the Sudanese people, as its involvement in the Sudan crisis does not reflect the organization’s mandate. Even IGAD involvement is purportedly impartial, as the coming passages tell the tale.
IGAD and the South Sudan War
During the conflict in the then South Sudan, IGAD pursued a peacemaking activity that covered IGAD’s intervention in Sudan through its standing committee on peace. In 1997, IGAD initiated a diplomatic and political offensive to revive the peace talks in Sudan to stop the war in South Sudan. Thus, IGAD hosted the peace process that led to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the ‘Government of Sudan and the SPLA in Nairobi on January 9, 2005 (viz., CAP: https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/SD_060000_The%20Comprehensive%20Peace%20Agreement.pdf). Here, instead of safeguarding the unity of the member states, the IGAD initiative resulted in South Sudan secession, where the Southerners were given the right of self-determination and thus choose to become the newest country in the World on July 9 2011.
Though the CPA, unfortunately, created a new state, it has left time bombs for Sudan, among which are the demarcation of the border between Sudan and South Sudan, the Abyei region status, and the special status and referendum for South Kordofan, Nuba Mountains, and the Blue Nile States. These time bombs represent bobby traps for Sudan’s future stability and the reoccurrence of conflicts that IGAD is supposed to prevent. Still, instead, IGAD committed blatant breaches of its peace and security stipulations, as stated in pillar III of IGAD’s charter.