PRESS RELEASE

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, Tuesday 26 July 2005: The East African Community Secretariat, in conjunction with the GTZ (German), will be hosting a two-day regional workshop for civil society organizations in East Africa from Thursday 28 to Friday 29 July 2005, at the Arusha International Conference Centre, Mbayuwayu Hall.

The Secretary General of the East African Community, Hon. Amanya Mushega is expected to give a keynote address to the workshop, whose theme is: Civil Society mobilization for effective participation in the EAC.

The workshop will concentrate mainly on issues regarding the role of the civil society in the regional integration process, including drawing up a roadmap for the establishment of an East African NGO Forum.

The workshop will be attended by senior policy makers in the NGOs/civil society organizations from the Partner States, and officials from the Ministries responsible for the registration of civil society organizations and regional cooperation.

Civil Society in the context of the EAC

Within the context of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community,
human rights groups, grassroot organizations, labor unions, youth and gender movements, environmental movements, religious bodies, farmers' organizations, the academic community, research institutions, professional associations; and the media are recognized as part and parcel of the civil society.

Current Status of the Civil Society

Although the EAC process of regional integration originally did not accommodate civil society participation, many NGOs in the region followed closely the deliberations of the initial process. Way back in 1996,the NGO community had already indicated that the EAC integration process had failed to recognize the role of civil society. Recognizing the urgency to be heard and to influence the regional integration process, the East African NGOs met and formed a coalition with the aim of directly influencing the formation of the new EAC and urge it to recognize the role of NGOs in poverty eradication, justice and social equity, promotion
and protection of human rights. The NGO Coalition of East Africa (NGOCEA) was therefore established in October 1996 as an umbrella organization of national NGO networks from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. NGOCEA comprises: Tanzania Association of NGOs, (TANGO); Tanzania Council of Social Development (TACOSODE) and Association of NGOs in Zanzibar (ANGOZA). Kenya is represented by the National Council for NGOs and Uganda by the Uganda Women's Network (UWONET).

One of the main reasons for the formation of NGOCEA was to monitor closely the integration process and public accountability. To achieve this goal, NGOCEA presented a preliminary memorandum to the East African Community (EAC), which recommended that the EAC draft Treaty provisions include mention of civil society
organizations and to give a definite role for non-state actors in the regional integration process.

Currently, only four East African Associations have been granted observer status
by the EAC namely; the East African Business Council (EABC), which was granted in 1997, the East African Trade Union Council (EATUC) in 1997, the East African Centre for Constitutional Development (Kituo cha Katiba) in 2004, and lastly the East African Magistrates' and Judges Association, also in 2004. These Organizations
have been participating actively in meetings and forums organized by the East African Community. Several other organizations have applied for observer status with the East African Community and their applications are under consideration.