NIRAS has started to provide technical assistance to IGAD - The Inter Governmental Authority on Development. IGAD is an organisation of seven East African countries with a mission to assist and complement the efforts of the Member States to achieve: Food security and environmental protection; Promotion and maintenance of peace and security and humanitarian affairs; and Economic cooperation and integration. IGAD’s role in promoting peace, prosperity and integration is unique, since it is the only regional organisation that has all Horn of Africa’s countries as its members.
The technical assistance is part of Finland’s Support to Institutional Strengthening of IGAD, and is funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. NIRAS provides one long-term adviser and several short-term staff. Team Leader Dr Leena Kirjavainen, former FAO Country Representative for Lao PDR, is based at the IGAD’s head office in Djibouti.
NIRAS supports IGAD in building its institutional capacity to act as a Regional Economic Community and especially in developing IGAD’s project preparation and management systems.
The newly established Project Preparation and Management Unit at IGAD will make sure that programme proposals received from the Horn of Africa region will meet the standards and requirements of potential financiers.