Eritrea has formally withdrawn its membership from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), concluding that the regional bloc has forfeited its legal mandate, credibility, and strategic relevance. The decision was officially communicated to the IGAD Secretary General, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Asmara.
In a measured but firm statement, Eritrea traced its withdrawal to a long record of institutional failure, politicization, and selective targeting that, in its view, has hollowed out IGAD’s original purpose. Eritrea’s move marks not a sudden rupture, but the end of a prolonged effort to reform an organization it once helped to build.
Eritrea was among the pivotal actors in the revitalization of IGAD in 1993, advocating for a regional body capable of enhancing peace, stability, and economic integration in the Horn of Africa. At the time, IGAD was envisioned as a practical mechanism rooted in mutual respect among sovereign states, not a platform for political maneuvering.
However, Eritrea argues that this vision steadily eroded. By 2005, the organization had begun, in Eritrea’s assessment, to drift away from its statutory obligations, increasingly serving as a tool against certain member states rather than a neutral forum for regional cooperation. These developments led Eritrea to suspend its membership in April 2007.
After more than a decade outside the bloc, Eritrea reactivated its IGAD membership in June 2023. That decision, the Ministry noted, was driven by cautious optimism that the organization might correct course, undertake genuine reform, and address its past conduct. Eritrea publicly called for institutional renewal and a recommitment to legality, impartiality, and regional balance.
Those expectations, Eritrea now says, were not met.
“IGAD has and continues to renege on its statutory obligations,” the statement reads, concluding that the organization has undermined its own relevance and authority. As a result, Eritrea finds no justification for remaining within a structure that offers “no discernible strategic benefit” to its constituencies and fails to contribute meaningfully to regional stability.
The withdrawal reflects a broader Eritrean position on regional engagement: cooperation must be anchored in sovereignty, equality, and clear legal mandates, not rhetoric or pressure politics. From Asmara’s perspective, regional institutions that deviate from these principles risk becoming liabilities rather than instruments of peace.
Eritrea’s exit also raises uncomfortable questions for IGAD itself. Once promoted as the central platform for addressing security and development challenges in the Horn of Africa, the organization now faces renewed scrutiny over its effectiveness, neutrality, and internal coherence. Eritrea’s decision underscores a growing skepticism toward multilateral frameworks that exist in form but struggle to deliver substance.
Asmara emphasized that withdrawal from IGAD does not signal isolationism or hostility toward regional cooperation. Rather, it reflects a refusal to legitimize institutions that, in Eritrea’s assessment, have lost their way. Eritrea maintains that durable regional stability can only be built on respect for sovereignty, adherence to law, and partnerships that are genuinely reciprocal.
As the Horn of Africa navigates a period of shifting alliances and unresolved conflicts, Eritrea’s move stands as a clear statement of principle: regional integration cannot be sustained by empty institutions, and legitimacy cannot be claimed without accountability.
