CEWARN held a virtual meeting of the 11 th Rapid Response Fund Steering Committee attended by CEWERU Heads, Civil Society Organizations as well as development partners on 11 th May 2022.

The 11 th RRF Steering Committee convened to discuss, review and approve first rounds regular projects to be implemented by selected civil society organizations called “implementing agencies” in IGAD Member States. 12 Regular projects worth USD 450K from across all member states have been approved by the Committee that are essentially peace building activities and among them, peace dialogues initiatives, inter-communal mediation, promoting social cohesion, cultural and sport tournament for peace, strengthening local peace committees as well as empowering girls and women in peace committees. Additionally, some member states – Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda- have already received emergency funds that support urgent interventions. Given the time limit of projects, it has been recommended to member states to speed up implementation of activities.

The RRF was established to support conflict prevention, management and resolution (CPMR) efforts in Member States as well as to support to support response capacity of government and non-government structures at national and sub-national levels.

The funds were obtained through contributions from the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the governments of Netherlands and Sweden as well as the European Union through the IGAD Promoting Peace and Stability in the Horn of Africa Region (IPPSHAR) program.