EAC HOLDS TRAINING OF TRAINERS WORKSHOP ON REGIONAL INTEGRATION
ARUSHA, Tanzania, April 24, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Finance and Administration, Dr. Julius Rotich, today opened a one-week Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop on the EAC integration process at the East African Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania.
In his opening remarks, the Deputy Secretary General emphasized the importance of making the Community people-centered to ensure the sustainability of the regional bloc.
“Popular involvement and participation can only be realized by ensuring that the public is aware of the aim and objectives as well as the ongoing and planned projects and programmes of the East African Community,” said Dr. Rotich.
The Deputy Secretary General reiterated the need for processes such as policy formulation to be responsive.
Said Dr. Rotich: “Unless governments are responsive to the people's needs and views in relation to the regional integration process, our mission is likely to encounter a lot of obstacles on the way.”
The EAC Secretariat with support from GIZ is rolling out a series of sensitization and awareness campaigns on the EAC integration for civil society, private sector and local governments and the general public in a sustainable manner.
The meeting has brought together representatives from the East African Business Council (EABC), East African Civil Society Forum (EACSOF), the East African Local Governments Association (EALGA) as well as the Ministries of EAC in the Partner States.
Notes to Editors
The major aim of the sensitization campaigns is to create awareness among the citizens of East Africa on the integration process in order for them to take full advantage of the benefits of regional integration.
As part of the campaign, the Training of Trainers (ToT) aims at equipping the participants with adequate knowledge of the EAC structures and processes to enable then roll out sensitization awareness activities in the Partner States.
It is also envisaged that the stakeholders (EABC, EACSOF, EALGA and Ministries of EAC) will own the process of sensitization on the EAC in the Partner States and therefore, incorporate sensitization campaigns in their operational plans.
Through their structures, champions of the integration process will be indentified and supported to expand, sustain and institutionalize the process among their constituents.