Good morning. Thank you so much Ambassador Kelly. Good morning to my esteemed IGAD colleagues.

The signing of this agreement is a monumental achievement. Thank you, Ambassador Kelly, for recognizing that the signing of an agreement between two large bureaucracies does take patience, determination and a lot of trust.

USAID and IGAD together seek to complement the efforts of the IGAD member states in security, environment, resilience and economic development activities. USAID currently supports three initiatives under IGAD:

• The Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN)
• The IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI)
• And the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Center (ICPAC)

Ambassador Maalim, I recall our meeting on February 18, 2016, when both our organizations shared updates on the progress in the development of our strategies. I want to congratulate you and IGAD for completing your new five-year strategy. At USAID East Africa, we have also recently completed our East Africa Regional Development Cooperation Strategy (RDCS).

I am very pleased to see that there is good alignment between our strategies, laying the framework for us to work towards common goals.

IGAD has been designated by USAID as a Public International Organization (PIO). This new status allows USAID to sign a more substantial and flexible agreement called a Regional Development Objectives Agreement. I am especially pleased that this is the very first agreement of this type that we will sign.

Of course, it is this agreement that brings us here today. This agreement allows USAID to provide approximately $17 million to support the priorities set by IGAD for food insecurity, climate change, drought, and c violent extremism, as well as support IGAD in strengthening its own institution.

USAID aligns our assistance to our regional partners’ mandates and strategies—including IGAD—while also working within our U.S. foreign policy and development priorities. It is this intersection between your mandate and ours, and between your strategies and ours, where we find a common ground for working to the benefit of the region.

Thank you for your partnership; it has indeed been grounded in mutual respect and mutual responsibility. I look forward to the next five years of our work together.

Thank you.