ADDIS ABABA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- A regional conference on peace along Ethiopia-Kenya borders on Wednesday emphasized on the need to employ concerted efforts to ensure sustainable peace that enables addressing poverty and development challenges of cross-border communities of the two countries.
The Ethiopia-Kenya Cross-border Peace and Development Initiative has organized the high-level conference from April 17 to 18 in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa to explore ways of enhancing peace and security among communities living along the borders of the two countries.
The conference is believed to support other initiatives that are aimed at addressing conflicts and to ensure sustainable peace and economic growth along the borders of Ethiopia and Kenya, in the areas of Moyale-Marsabit, Omo-Turkana and Mandera.
The two-day conference is expected to deliberate on ways of ensuring sustainable peace by uncovering causes of the complex violent conflicts in Ethio-Kenya border areas.
In his key note address, Ethiopia's State Minister of Peace, Zeinu Jamal, said the conference would facilitate for open discourse among the stakeholders and uncover underlying causes and structural bottlenecks for instability in the area.
Recalling a recent incidence in Moyale that had devastating impacts on the lives of communities in the area, the State Minister said, "regrettably, a high number of people died, hundreds of populations became displaced and their livelihoods destroyed, development opportunities lost and poverty aggravated in the area."
Speaking on his part, Josephat Nanok, Governor of Turkana County, Kenya, said the communities along the borders of Ethiopia share similarities in many aspects, but deadly conflicts occur in those areas.
"We had chronic conflicts among communities across these regions, and most of these conflicts go around competition of natural resources, fetching in Lake Turkana - Omo River Delta, pastures and livestock," he said.
Mohamud Mohamed Ali, Governor of Marsabit, Kenya, on his part underlined the need to employ joint efforts to address the conflicts that may arise among the communities in the cross-border areas, and realize common goals of development and prosperity.
"Destiny of Ethiopia and Kenya is interconnected and our identities are intertwined. We the leadership in Kenya, nationally and locally believe in the shared identity of our peoples and the common destiny of our countries," he said.
"We are willing to stand up to all challenges to craft common promises of all socio-economic integration. I have no doubt our counterpart in Ethiopia shares this commitment. Because it is only by working together that we have a chance of creating the bright future for our communities. Together we must therefore work for peace and fight the battle against common challenges, poverty, ecological fragility and underdevelopment faced by cross border communities," he said.
The conference is attended by government officials from Ethiopia and Kenya as well as representatives of UN, EU, and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), among others.
In a statement to the conference, Ahunna Eziakonwa-Onochie, the UN Development Program (UNDP) Africa Regional Director, hailed the role the conference is playing in creating a platform to discuss and exchange ideas on causes and drivers of the recent surge of violent conflict in the cross border areas of Moyale and come up with viable solutions.
