ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PANA) — A proposal by Djibouti to involve Somali civil society in peace efforts in their country was Friday considered by the standing committee of Somalia of IGAD member states in the Horn of Africa and donor countries during a one-day meeting in Addis Ababa.

The meeting was part of the peace initiatives on Somalia by IGAD - the intergovernmental Authority on development - which also considered "wide- ranging" discussions on the challenges faced in the promotion of peace and national reconciliation in Somalia, the Ethiopian ministry of foreign affairs later said in a statement.

The new proposal by the Republic of Djibouti "stresses the need" to involve Somalia civil society - clan elders, religious leaders, the business community, NGOs and women and youth groups - in peace and reconciliation efforts that had eluded their country for nearly a decade.

The country has been without a government since the fall of the late dictator, Mohammed Siad Barre in January, 1991.

"Both hopes and frustrations were expressed by the seventh meeting of the standing committee of IGAD on Somalia regarding the state of affairs in the country," the statement said.

It noted that the participants expressed "a sense of urgency to make tangible progress in view of the fact that lack of any forward movement was creating disillusionment among those who could finally back the peace process and the rehabilitation of Somalia."

The meeting referred the Djibouti proposal for consideration by the IGAD summit scheduled for November in Nairobi, Kenya.

The committee also agreed to hold its 8th regular meeting in Nairobi 8 December.