This article is fowarded to you by Leo Odera OMOLO

— On Thu, 7/10/08, Magaga Alot wrote:
From: Magaga Alot
Subject: PRESS RELEASE IRCC MEETING TO BE HELD IN DAR 17 JULY 2008
Date: Thursday, July 10, 2008, 11:47 PM

PRESS RELEASE

HIGH LEVEL MEETING OF EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA REGIONAL ECONOMIC COMUNITIES WITH EU TO BE HELD IN DAR ES SALAAM, 17 JULY 2008

EAC Headquarters, Arusha, Friday, 11 July 2008:

The Inter Regional Coordinating Committee (IRCC), comprising of the four regional organizations that form the Eastern and Southern Africa -Indian Ocean Region, i.e. Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC), Inter-Governmental authority on Development (IGAD) and the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) will hold a High-Level Meeting in Dar es Salaam at the Kempinski Hotel on 17-18 July 2008. The meeting will bring together the Ministers of Finance and Trade from Eastern and Southern Africa .
The meeting has been organized by the IRCC in collaboration with the European Commission. The Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb.

Juma Mwapachu , the current Chair of the IRCC will chair the meeting which is expected to be attended by the Chief Executive Officers of the four regional organizations; the EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Mr. Louis Michel as well as representatives of other development partners, including AfDB, EIB, World Bank, USAID, PTA, IMF, SIDA, CIDA and JICA, SADC, ACP and the African Union.

The theme of the meeting is “Accelerating Regional Integration in Eastern and Southern Africa “. The meeting will provide opportunity for the Eastern and Southern African regional organizations to present their vision of regional integration, and the related issues on the challenges within the regional integration agenda for support by the EU and other development partners under the Aid for Trade initiative.

The Meeting comes at a time when the four regional organizations in collaboration with the European Commission are in the process of finalizing the 10th EDF Regional Strategy Paper and Indicative Programme for the period 2008-2013 that will be used to support the Regional Integration Strategies and the cooperation programmes of the regional organizations. It will also serve as an EU Regional Strategy policy for joint programming with EU Member States under the Aid for Trade agenda as well as for other donors. A Non State Actors forum on the same theme will be held on 18th July 2008.

BACKGROUND:

Regional Strategy Paper/ Indicative Programme, 2008-2013

The Regional Organizations (Ros) which are concerned with the ESA -IO RSP are COMESA, EAC, IGAD and IOC. The four ROs have decided to pursue the collaboration they started under the 9th EDF, to jointly prepare and implement the 10th EDF RSP/RIP for the ESA -IO region. The Member States which form part of the ESA -IO region are heterogeneous in terms of size, economic structure, as well as resources endowment. They however share a common objective to address poverty reduction through regional economic integration and trade.

The regional integration process in ESA -IO was institutionalized in the late seventies and evolved into the formation of Regional Organizations that were attributed with mandates to address specific issues, with ultimate common development objectives. COMESA and EAC pursue a regional economic integration agenda. COMESA launched its Free Trade Area in 2000 and is preparing to launch its Customs Union by 2008. EAC launched its Customs Union in 2005 and plans to finalize the process by 2010. Both also plan to achieve Common Markets and Monetary Unions by 2012/2025. IGAD and IOC are both focused on specificities of their Member States and follow COMESA on the regional economic integration agenda. In addition, EAC has an explicit objective of achieving a Political Federation by 2015, and COMESA, IOC and IGAD have mandates to address Peace and Security in the region.

The decision taken by the region to remain united as a negotiating party for a comprehensive ESA EPA and EAC EPA constitute a challenge and a further opportunity to strengthen the process of regional integration. A deeper and well functioning regional internal market, progressively and asymmetrically opened to the EU, can contribute to generate economic growth.

The overall objective of the 10th EDF ESA -IO RSP is to contribute to the eradication of poverty in member countries and assist them in attaining the MDGs, as enshrined in the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, by supporting economic growth and developing trade. The specific objectives are to support the regional integration agendas of the ROs; to strengthen regional cooperation and to support the integration of the region into the global economy. The underlying principles of the RSP is to align cooperation with the medium term strategies of the ROs in line with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the EU Consensus on Development, to mainstream trade into the development objectives of the region and to ensure that assistance is delivered in a manner which is predictable, effective and sustainable.

Interventions are foreseen under two Focal areas: Regional Economic Integration covering regional integration policies, trade and EPA, and regional sector policies, (Focal Area 1); and furthering the Regional Political Integration/Cooperation Agenda (Focal Area 2). , through the development of a series of flanking measures aimed at assisting the region to tackle regional political problems in a coordinated fashion.

Focal Area 1 aims at supporting deepening regional integration by fully implementing the Customs Unions and moving towards a common internal market (and eventually monetary union) through the implementation of the necessary regulatory framework, providing financial support for the trade liberalization process and its possible economic and fiscal costs. It will also aim at leveraging funds for trade-related infrastructure to deepen regional integration and ensure the sustainable management of the natural resources of the region as a core asset for livelihood systems so that it provides a basis for sustainable food security.

Focal Area 2 aims at strengthening the political integration/cooperation process in the ESA region by building a coherent regional view on the concept of good governance, establishing regional mechanisms for early warning, conflict prevention, management and resolution, post-conflict reconstruction, and overall capacity building in the areas of peace and security.

Under the non-Focal areas, interventions will include programmes that may not be covered under Focal Areas 1 and 2 but which are consistent with the mandates and strategies of the Ros including capacity building, support to the IRCC, and involvement of Non-State Actors etc. The non-focal areas will include

The Regional Indicative Programme of an amount of €645 million will be allocated as follows:

Regional Economic Integration: 85%
Regional Political Integration 10%
Other Programmes: 5%.

Implementation will be coordinated through the Inter-Regional Coordinating Committee (IRCC), to contribute to the harmonization of policies in line with the recommendations of the AU.

DIRECTORATE OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
EAC SECRETARIAT
ARUSHA
JULY 2008

– – –
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:56:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: PRESS RELEASE IRCC MEETING TO BE HELD IN DAR 17 JULY 2008