CID, EALA to Develop East African Parliamentary Institute

ARUSHA, Tanzania (July 7, 2011) -- The University at Albany's Center for International Development (SUNY/CID) and the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), the legislative arm of the East African Community (EAC), have signed an agreement to create and develop the East African Parliamentary Institute (EAPI).

SUNY/CID Director Malcolm Russell-Einhorn and EALA's Rt. Hon. Abdirahim H. Abdi sign the 3-year partnership agreement at the EALA offices in Arusha, Tanzania.

The institute is expected to facilitate the strengthening of the human and institutional capacities of both EALA itself and member parliaments in the region (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda) in such areas as leadership development, legislative drafting and review, human resource management, budget analysis, and the utilization of information technology.  It will also seek a leading role in information exchange among the affected parliaments, as well as harmonization and optimization of legislative training resources in the region. The 3-year agreement was signed by EALA's Rt. Hon. Abdirahim H. Abdi, and SUNY/CID Director Malcolm Russell-Einhorn on May 26 at the EALA offices in Arusha, Tanzania. The memorandum of understanding constitutes a framework of cooperation and collaboration between the organizations that will be refined through subsidiary projects and documents/understandings affecting both substantive training and development activities.

The partnership between EALA and SUNY/CID originally began in 2001 through receipt of a Ford Foundation grant that helped conceptualize the mission and functions of the EAPI.  Until recently, however, EALA was not in a position to carry forward a sustained institution-building program due to the subsequent evolution of the EAC and politics in the region.  Now, with the EAC's consolidation of its role in the region and EALA's prominence on the rise, the time was propitious to launch a more concerted agenda of proposed activities consistent with the EAPI's original mission.

Also at the signing ceremony were members of EALA, Hon. Abdullah Mwinyi and Hon. Clarkson Karan; EALA Clerk Kenneth Madete; Eva Mulema, Chief of Party of SUNY/CID's LINKAGES Project in Uganda; and Chief of Party Fred Matiangi and Silvia Nyaga of the SUNY/CID's Kenya Parliamentary Support Project.

About the Center for International Development:

The State University of New York's Center for International Development (SUNY/CID) is a leading international development center enhancing the knowledge and practice of governance and policy making. The Center, based at University at Albany's Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, a national leader in public affairs education. It draws upon the extensive intellectual and technical resources from SUNY and serves as a key component of the university’s overall commitment to excellence in international education, cross-cultural exchange, and sustainable development. SUNY/CID has operated field offices on five continents and has implemented over $200 million in international development projects over the past quarter century.