The workshop in Nairobi (November 26th-29th) brought together participants from all IGAD member states and development partners to consider two IGAD documents: "Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative", and a "Strategy and Regional Programming Paper".

They had been developed by the IGAD Secretariat in consultation with member states, development partners, non state actors and other stakeholders following the IGAD Summit in Nairobi in September last year when the Heads of State and Government declared their commitment to end drought emergencies in the region once and for all. The workshop focused on reviewing and improving the Strategy and Regional Programming Paper.

Opening the workshop, IGAD's Director of Agriculture and the Environment, Mr. Mohamed Moussa noted that the "Strategy and Regional Programming Paper" was both an agreement between IGAD member states and a framework for the process of implementing the drought resilience initiative.

It is intended to guide and inform the process of coordinating and organizing implementation of the initiative. Participants discussed the "Strategy and Regional Programming Paper" in detail and provided updates on the preparation stages of their respective country programming, exchanging relevant ideas and sharing their respective countries' experiences.