The Horn of Africa is one of the world's most food insecure regions. The Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) is a regional inter-governmental organisation that aims to expand areas of cooperation between its 8 members (Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda) and to promote peace and stability in the region in order to attain food security, sustainable environmental management and sustainable development.

In 2014, IGAD approached the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), seeking support for the development of their Regional Water Policy. Consequently, Adam Smith International (ASI) and SIWI, supported by the Global Water Partnership, joined forces to explore potential opportunities in designing a comprehensive, regional water security and climate resilience programme for IGAD. Funding for the research was provided by CDKN.

The project had two specific objectives:

1. Improve the capacity of IGAD to develop fundable proposals for climate-resilient water management projects within its region from its current level
2. Increase the available knowledge on climate finance in the water sector in the IGAD region.

As a move toward its own regional programme for transboundary water infrastructure development IGAD held its first meeting of the Ministers of Water Resources of its member states in January 2015. They passed a Regional Water Resources Policy and urged the IGAD Secretariat to establish a unit or platform linked closely to the IGAD Drought Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) that will support the implementation of this Policy and the sustainable management of water resources in the region. IDDRSI is the flagship, semi-autonomous programme of IGAD with the goal of building drought disaster resilient communities, institutions and ecosystems by 2027.

Whilst the IDDRSI Strategy has been successful in some areas, such as resource mobilisation, it has been less successful in implementing projects ‘on the ground’. There is little evidence of impact on the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable communities. The project analysed the constraints and causes of slow project implementation in IDDRSI.

The project team responded to both the expressed needs of IGAD and donors through the proposed IGAD Climate Resilient Investment Facility ‘ICRIF’. ICRIF aims to establish an international transaction service provider to mobilise the existing IDDRSI funding toward infrastructure development in the short term, while working with the IGAD Water Unit and Secretariat to strengthen gradually their capacity to take on these functions in the medium term.

In addition, the project sought to build the capacities and enhance skills of the relevant IGAD officials through a IGAD-CRIDF study tour. This proved to be an effective method t build understanding of, and ownership for ICRIF among the IGAD officials.

Timeframe: March 2016-September 2016