The Inter-Parliamentary Union of the IGAD member States (IPU-IGAD)
The establishment of an Inter-Parliamentary Union of IGAD Member States was announced in the Khartoum Declaration during the 8th Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of IGAD Member States, held on November 23, 2000, in Sudan.
Later, the Conference of Speakers of National Parliaments of IGAD Member States, which met in Addis Ababa on February 20, 2004, to launch the Inter-Parliamentary Union, adopted the protocol establishing the Inter-Parliamentary Union of IGAD Member States, headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and led by a Secretary-General.
The regional parliamentary union was formed to promote cooperation among parliaments in the region. HoPR, in its session held on 25th March 2004, ratified the establishment protocol.
The House of Peoples’ Representatives of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia ratified the protocol establishing the Inter-Parliamentary Union of IGAD Member States on 25th March 2004 (Proclamation No. 396/2004, Federal Negarit Gazette).
Dawit Yohannes, the Speaker of the House of Peoples’ Representatives of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, was the one who proposed establishing a parliamentary union among the member states of the Inter-governmental Authority for Development (IGAD)