IGAD and forced migration response in the Horn of Africa: prospects and obstacles

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has taken a role of responding to forced migration in the Horn of Africa where wars, conflicts and disasters have generated refugees, asylum seekers, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and returnees. This role is within the context of the 2016 United Nations (UN) New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (NYD), the Comprehensive Refugee Response Forum (CRRF) and the 2018 Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) that call for a multi-stakeholder comprehensive approach to forced displacement. The paper argues that IGAD’s emerging policy frameworks and mechanisms like the 2019 Kampala Declaration on Jobs, Livelihoods, and Self-Reliance for Refugees, Returnees, and Host Communities, the 2017 Nairobi Declaration on Durable Solutions for Somali Refugees and the Djibouti Declaration of the Regional Ministerial Conference on Refugee Education show the potential and prospects of an authority willing to play an active role in responding to forced migration. Moreover, IGAD can tap into its regional diplomacy, political leverage and ability to mobilize support from member states. Also, IGAD was recognized at the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other stakeholders in 2019 for its role in supporting the NYD, CRRF and GCR. However, a number of obstacles pose a danger to undermining the organization’s efforts, including the nature of the refugee problem, constraints of member states and the authority’s limitations like declarations not legally binding, capacity gaps, the authority being more of a convener than an implementer and limited consultations of member states. IGAD is likely to fail if these obstacles are not addressed.