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Press Release

UN pledges support to Burundi in attaining peaceful, credible and democratic elections

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 6th February, 2020: The United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Africa, Ms. Bintou Keita, has expressed the United Nation’s desire for peaceful, credible and democratic elections in Burundi.

Ms. Keita made the statement Tuesday during a meeting with the EAC Secretary General, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko, in Bujumbura, Burundi, adding that peaceful elections in Burundi were a prerequisite for political stability in the nation and the region as a whole.

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In this photo taken Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, a Samburu boy uses a wooden stick to try to swat a swarm of desert locusts filling the air, as he herds his camel near the village of Sissia, in Samburu county, Kenya. The most serious outbreak of desert locusts in 25 years is spreading across East Africa and posing an unprecedented threat to food security in some of the world's most vulnerable countries, authorities say, with unusual climate conditions partly to blame. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)

7th Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Environment and Natural Resources Management underway in Dodoma, Tanzania

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 4th February, 2020:  The 7th Meeting of the EAC Sectoral Council on Environment and Natural Resources is currently underway in Dodoma, United Republic of Tanzania.

The objective of the five-day meeting is to review progress and provide policy guidance on the implementation of Environment and Natural Resource Management matters.

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E€OFISH Programme set to contribute to sustainable fisheries for the blue economy of the Eastern and Southern Africa and Indian Ocean regions

Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization, Kisumu, Kenya, 27 January 2020. The Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) is one of the Institutions of the East African Community (EAC) as provided for under Article 9(3) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community.

LVFO is a regional inter-governmental organization established by a Convention that was signed in Kisumu, Kenya on 30th June 1994. The Convention has open membership to all of the EAC Partner States and has competence on fisheries and aquaculture resources of the East African Community water bodies.

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A group photo opportunity of all staff and Executives after the Secretary General’s New Year's Address

Plans to put in place East African single currency by 2024 well underway

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 27th January, 2020: East African Community Partner States are in the process of harmonizing critical policies and putting in place the requisite institutions to attain a single currency for the region by 2024 as outlined in the EAC Monetary Union Protocol.

EAC Secretary General Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko said that the Bill for the establishment of the East African Monetary Institute (EAMI) had already been assented to by the Summit of Heads of State, adding that the EAMI would later be transformed into the East African Central Bank that would issue the single currency.

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EAC Secretariat asks Partner States to step up surveillance on a novel Corona Virus (2019-nCoV) following outbreak in China

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 27 January 2020. The EAC Secretariat issues an alert to all Partner States after an infectious disease outbreak caused by a novel Corona virus in the city of Wuhan, Republic of China. By 26 January 2020 the number of reported confirmed cases had increased to more than 2,000 people and 56 had died according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Most of the cases occurred in China and sporadic ones have been reported from Australia, France, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the US and Vietnam. Nearly all of them have links to Wuhan. For the time being WHO decided against declaring the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) but is closely monitoring the development.

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EAC Constitutional Experts hold consultations with President Pierre Nkurunziza

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 15th January, 2020: Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza today held private consultations with the team of EAC Constitutional Experts at the Presidential Palace in Ngozi, Burundi. The closed-door meeting marked the start of the National Stakeholders’ Consultations for drafting the EAC Political Confederation Constitution in the Republic of Burundi.

The objective of the Consultations, both public and private, which will be held in Ngozi, Gitega, Makamba and Bujumbura, is to obtain stakeholders’ views on their interests and other key issues that will better inform the drafting of a model Political Confederation and subsequently a Confederal Constitution in line with the principle of a people-centred Community.

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Lake Victoria Basin Commission Bill (2019)

EAC logo web advertsEAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY

LAKE VICTORIA BASIN COMMISSION

LAKE VICTORIA BASIN COMMISSION BILL (2019)

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) is considering the Lake Victoria Basin Commission Bill (2019) with the aim of enacting the Lake Victoria Basin Commission Act which will be an act of the East African Community. The object of the Bill is to provide for the Lake Victoria Basin Commission as an institution of the Community and is premised on Chapter Nineteen of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, particularly Article 114, under which the Partner States agreed to cooperate in the management of their water and marine resources, and specifically, to establish a body for the management of Lake Victoria. 

The Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources of EALA is collecting views from the stakeholders on the Bill, which is accessible from both the Lake Victoria Basin Commission website www.lvbcom.org and the East African Community website www.eac.int.

Comments can be sent to the Clerk of EALA by 31st January 2020 using the following contacts for consideration by the Committee: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and copy to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Executive Secretary
East African Community
Lake Victoria Basin Commission
Nyanza Regional Headquarters, 13th floor
Owuor Otiende Road, Off Kenyatta Highway
P.
O. Box 1510 - 40100
Kisumu, KENYA
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Burundi to host National Stakeholders Consultations for Drafting EAC Political Conferederation Constitution next week

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 10th January, 2020: EAC Constitutional Experts are set to hold National Stakeholders Consultations for drafting the EAC Political Confederation Constitution from 14th to 20th January 2020, in Burundi.

The objective of the Consultations, which will be held in Bujumbura, Gitega, Ngozi and Makamba, is to obtain stakeholders’ views on their interest and other key issues that will better inform the drafting of a model Political Confederation and subsequently a Confederal Constitution in line with the principle of a people-centred Community.

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EAC Select Side featuring legislators from the Partner States’ Parliaments and the management of the East African Water and Sports Cultural Organization (EAWASSCA) in a thrilling encounter at the St Mary’s Kitende Stadium, Kampala.

10th IPG kicks off, EAC select side lose in soccer curtain raiser, recover in netball

East African Legislative Assembly, Kampala, Uganda: December 10th 2019: The 10th edition of the EAC Inter-Parliamentary Games (IPG) kicked off yesterday in Kampala, Uganda. To commence the twelve-day extravaganza was a football curtain raiser pitting an EAC Select Side featuring legislators from the Partner States’ Parliaments and the management of the East African Water and Sports Cultural Organization (EAWASSCA) in a thrilling encounter at the St Mary’s Kitende Stadium, Kampala.   

The water body pipped the EAC legislators 2-1. In netball, the EALA legislators beat the water body managers 22-16. In the second curtain raiser soccer match involving staff members, EALA drew 1-1 with Parliament of Uganda, while the EALA netball team similarly drew 22-22 with EAWASSCA netball team.

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Regional economic and social integration supported by two new GIZ programmes implemented with EAC

  • Support to East African Market Driven and People Centred Integration East Africa (SEAMPEC) to focus on value addition and trade
  • Pandemic preparedness to continue to focus on the prevention of and response to infectious disease outbreaks of public health concern in the region
  • Implementation building on and expanding the scope of successful programme outcomes 

The East African Community Secretariat and the EAC GIZ programme supporting East African Integration on behalf of the German Government, today signed an implementation agreement worth US$16 million for continuing support for EAC regional integration through their SEAMPEC and Pandemic Preparedness programmes.

The programmes are managed through the EAC-GIZ partnership to continue to grow regional economic and social integration which already has a significant impact in the region.

The SEAMPEC programme, through its multiple cross-cutting initiatives, takes a holistic approach to regional integration that encompasses civil society as well as the public and private sectors. Through targeted work in sectors including agro-processing, pharmaceuticals as well as services sectors such as tourism and ICT, SEAMPEC aims to facilitate the improvement of framework conditions to help create more competitive industries and cross border opportunities.

“GIZ and the Secretariat have been developing and managing key projects working with partners across the EAC region with a focus on making the Common Market, Customs Union and integration a reality.

Through the SEAMPEC programme many businesses and civil society organisations have all benefited from collaborating on the ground and high-level networking and coalition activities. We are proud to continue to implement programmes which are showing real results and bringing tangible benefits to the citizens of the EAC,” said Dr Mike Falke, GIZ Country Director for Tanzania and EAC. 

Another US$3 million of the funding are going towards the ‘Support to Pandemic Preparedness in the EAC Region’ project, which started in March 2017 and entered its second phase in September 2019. This project is working closely with the EAC to implement the Regional Contingency Plan under the interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral One Health approach and to establish the discipline of risk and crisis communication in the region.

The project supports the EAC Secretariat in its coordinating and advisory role in the prevention and response to cross-border outbreaks. The project builds on important preparatory work and ensures that when pandemic health threats become a reality, EAC countries are in the best position to respond.

“Diseases such as Ebola and Dengue Fever are claiming lives and destroying livelihoods right now. High population density, increasing cross-border trade, climate change and many other factors increase the risk of spreading these infectious diseases. Being ready to respond and having the tools and expertise to be effective in emergency situations is crucial,” said Irene Lukassowitz, GIZ project manager. Following a successful cross border field simulation exercise between Kenya and Tanzania in June 2019, another field simulation exercise at the border between South Sudan and Uganda in 2020 will prepare the region even better. 

“Germany's development cooperation, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU), has to date contributed to the regional integration in East Africa through a variety of programmes and projects aimed at building up regional expertise and value adding to trade, industrial development, innovation and investment. GIZ has been working with the EAC for over 20 years, building capacities and expertise at the EAC Secretariat and for regional stakeholders.

SEAMPEC and the Pandemic Preparedness programme already have many achievements, and by continuing to grow these initiatives and invest in their successes we are confident that real EAC development is happening,” said Dr Kirsten Focken, GIZ Cluster Coordinator. 

-ENDS-

Contacts:
Dr Kirsten Focken
SEAMPEC Programme Manager
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Irene Lukassowitz
Support to Pandemic Preparedness in the EAC region Project Manager
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.giz.de
www.eacgermany.org
https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/69568.html

For an interview with Dr Mike Falke or Dr Kirsten Focken, please contact Mr Leslie Stephen Leslie, +255 687 900 944


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