Regional leaders, diplomats, and peacebuilders gathered in Nairobi today for the IGAD Regional Forum for Eminent Personalities and Leaders for Peace, a high-level assembly aimed at strengthening dialogue, sustaining peace, and reinforcing inclusive preventive diplomacy across the Horn of Africa.
Chaired by H.E. Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the forum brought together elder statespersons, former heads of state, diplomats, scholars, and civic leaders to renew their shared commitment to resolving conflicts and stabilizing a region beset by protracted crises.
“We are the living embodiment of a sacred trust,” Dr. Gebeyehu declared in his keynote address. “The IGAD Council of Eminent Persons exists in service of peace, security, and unity. Our legitimacy comes not from power, but from trust; not from authority imposed, but from respect earned through fairness and wisdom.”
Dr. Gebeyehu underscored the critical role of impartiality and integrity, particularly in a region facing what he termed “double danger”—an intersection of political instability, terrorism, climate shocks, and humanitarian crises.
He highlighted IGAD’s legacy, founded in 1986, and the region’s traditional reliance on elders and wisdom keepers as arbiters of peace.
Referring to the conflicts in Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, the Executive Secretary called upon the Council to act as IGAD’s “moral compass” and to diminish the “thunder of conflict into the whisper of reconciliation.”
He proposed two strategic priorities: granting full diplomatic status to preventive diplomacy missions and formally institutionalizing the Council of Eminent Persons within IGAD’s policy framework.
“These steps will allow us to move from reactive response to proactive peacebuilding—saving lives and resources before wars ignite,” he said.
Kenya Calls for Gender-Inclusive PeacebuildingCabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage, Hon. Hanna Wendot Cheptumo, emphasized the necessity of integrating women and youth in Track II diplomacy, stressing that “a peace process that excludes half of society lacks the collective intelligence required for resilience.”
Cheptumo lauded Kenya’s progress in gender-responsive legislation and cited the country’s 2019 National Policy on Gender and Development and its GBV Monitoring Framework as vital tools.
She also acknowledged the stark toll of gender-based violence in the region, noting that 5,578 women and girls were killed in 2024 alone—”each a failure of domestic-level diplomacy.”
“We propose a bold regional framework to train and mentor gender-inclusive mediators—from capital to village,” she said.
“Let us bring together daughters and sons, mothers and fathers to build peace from the complete spectrum of human experience.”
Kenya committed to legal, financial, and institutional support for the Council of Eminent Personalities, with Cheptumo calling for formal endorsement and targeted funding to sustain gender-inclusive diplomacy across IGAD states.
Strategic Diplomacy for Lasting Regional Stability
Representing Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Principal Secretary Dr. Abraham Korir Sing’Oei stressed the need for coherence in engaging eminent leaders and urged IGAD to formalize a structured framework to guide their deployment.
“The wisdom of Eminent Personalities should go hand-in-hand with intergenerational dialogue,” Sing’Oei said. “Peacebuilding cannot succeed if large segments of society remain excluded.”
He linked the forum’s agenda to IGAD’s broader goals of regional integration, economic development, and climate resilience, affirming Kenya’s support for deploying distinguished personalities as mediators in key conflict zones.
Looking Ahead to IGAD at 40
As IGAD approaches its 40th anniversary in 2026, the forum marked a milestone moment for reflection and recommitment.
Dr. Gebeyehu urged the Council to “chart a path not defined by division, but by solidarity; not by despair, but by boundless possibility.”
With backing from development partners including Japan, and guided by the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and IGAD’s Vision 2050, the forum concluded with a shared pledge to uphold the region’s “sacred trust” and respond to history’s call to peace.
“The hour might be late, but it is not too late,” said Dr. Gebeyehu in closing. “We shall not falter, we shall not fail—for we are the keepers of peace, the guardians of hope, and the architects of tomorrow’s dawn.”
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