Addis Ababa — The United Nations and the World Bank are joining forces with regional financial institutions African Union (AU), African Development Bank (AfDB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the European Commission (EC) to launch the Horn of Africa Initiative, which will mobilize more than US$8bn over the next several years to promote stability and development in the Horn of Africa.
The initiative will create economic opportunities throughout the region for some of the most vulnerable people, including refugees and their host communities.
"This is a moment of opportunity for the Horn of Africa. The region faces serious challenges, from drought to terrorism and extremism. But the region includes some of the continent's most dynamic economies, and there has also been important progress towards political stability. Now is the time for the international community to strengthen its support for these efforts," said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Mr. Ban also said that peace and security are mutually reinforcing and no country in the world could enjoy one without the other. "There can never be sustainable development without peace and without development there cannot be peace as well."
Dr. Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group said that the Horn of Africa Initiative would offer the peoples of the Horn of Africa a major opportunity to access clean water, energy, health services and jobs. "There is a greater opportunity now for the Horn of Africa to break free from its cycles of drought, food insecurity, water insecurity and conflict by building up regional security, generating a peace dividend, especially among young women and men, and spurring more cross-border cooperation."
Representatives of the AU, AfDB, IDB and EC both emphasized the need for more synergy between partner organizations and governments from the Horn of Africa in ensuring efforts were pulled together to support economic revival in the Horn of Africa.
Earlier today, the World Bank said that the European Union has pledged a total of around $3.7bn until 2020, of which about 10% would be for cross-border activities; the African Development Bank announced a pledge of $1.8bn over the next three years for countries of the Horn of Africa region; while the Islamic Development Bank committed to deploy up to $1 billion in new financing in its four member countries in the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda). In the same vein, the World Bank is mobilizing $1.8bn in new cross-border, regional finding to boost economic growth and opportunity, reduce poverty, and spur business activity.
The Horn is diverse, with some of the fastest growing economies and huge untapped natural resources. However, it also has many extraordinarily poor people and populations that are now doubling every 23 years. Unemployment is widespread among growing numbers of young people. Women, in particular, face huge obstacles because of their gender, including limited land rights, limited education, and social customs that often thwart their ability to pursue economic opportunity, and improve living conditions for their families and communities.
Countries in the region are also vulnerable to corruption, piracy, arms and drug trafficking. Terrorism, and related money flows are significant and interconnected threats in the Horn of Africa. People-trafficking is also a growing problem in the region. However, there are commendable efforts being made through regional cooperation in parts of the Horn to tackle the root causes of these problems.
