EAC partnership fund steering committee approves us$7.3m to support four priotiy areas during fy 2012/2013

An extraordinary meeting of the EAC Partnership Fund Steering Committee held today at the New Arusha Hotel in Tanzania approved a total of US$7,315,000 to support four key priority areas in the integration agenda during the financial year 2012/2013.

The four priority areas are implementation of the EAC Common Market Protocol; finalization and implementation of the East African Monetary Union Protocol; promoting citizen involvement in the EAC integration; and lastly EAC institutional strengthening.

Addressing Development Partners’ representatives from Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, DFID-UK, European Union, World Bank, Norway among others, the Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors Mr. Jean Claude Nsengiyumva, who represented the Secretary General, disclosed that the Partnership Fund was now fully integrated in the main planning and budgeting cycle of the EAC. He said convening of the extraordinary meeting was to ensure the Development Partners were involved in the planning process before the budget is finalized.

The Deputy Secretary General noted that the Partnership Fund had become a very important budgetary support mechanism to the main EAC budget and that it had enabled the Community to implement several activities in the integration process.

Mr. Nsengiyumva commended the Development Partners for their continued support and cooperation and reiterated the Secretariat’s firm commitment to ensuring the success of the Fund.

The current Chair of the Partnership Fund Steering Committee and Head of Division for Development Cooperation at the Germany Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Ms. Gisela Habel noted that there was a general appreciation for the progress being made in the integration agenda and the continued efforts to focus on the result based outputs. She further noted that the approved 4th EAC Development Strategy was providing a good foundation for a more strategic and focussed multi-year approach to the Fund’s activities.

Senior officials from Partner States Ministries of EAC, the Head of the Resource Mobilization Unit, Dr. James Njagu and other staff from the Secretariat attended the meeting.


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This article was originally posted on Sustainable Development Africa Platform

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