CIRI
Citizens Initiative for Regional Integration
Citizens Initiative for Regional Integration
Years of Regional Cooperation
Citizens’ Initiative for Regional Integration (CIRI) is a Pan-East African Organization/Movement advancing regional integration of the East African Community. As a leading advocacy, policy, and thought leadership organization, CIRI serves as a powerful platform through which citizens, civil society organizations, academic institutions, local governments, professional associations, and other stakeholders collectively shape the future of East Africa.
At the heart of our mission lies a profound belief that regional integration can only succeed when it is driven by the aspirations, participation, and ownership of the people themselves. We champion a vision of an East Africa founded and led by its own people on democratic values, shared prosperity, human dignity, and the rule of law.
CIRI generates research, develops innovative policy solutions, and mobilizes public engagement to influence decision-makers at national, regional, and international levels. We strive to transform regional integration from a governmental project into a people's movement, one that empowers citizens to actively shape the destiny of their community.
Explore Our WorkIf Citizens Initiative for Regional Integration (CIRI) brings regional integration closer to ordinary East Africans by providing accurate information, creating friendly spaces for citizens to meet, discuss, share ideas, and express their views, and connecting citizens with decision-makers and regional institutions, then East Africans will better understand the EAC, feel ownership of the integration process, and actively participate in shaping its direction.
As citizens become informed, connected, and involved, the East African Community will become more responsive, inclusive, and accountable. Increased citizen ownership and participation will strengthen public trust, accelerate regional cooperation, and contribute to the realization of a truly people-centred, prosperous, and united East Africa.
The Citizens Initiative for Regional Integration (CIRI) was born not in conference halls, but at East Africa's borders, marketplaces, and universities. In 2016, frustrated by work permit restrictions, border delays, student visa challenges, insecurity along the Juba Highway, and the growing disconnect between the East African Community (EAC) and its citizens, truck drivers, traders, students, and young professionals began meeting informally at Elegu Border and university campuses.
Led by Amanya Abdu, Galla Karim, Manga Alex of Uganda, Mangaru Adam, Garang Elijah, of South Sudan, Caroline Ondiek Bosibori of Burundi, Grace Charles of Tanzania, Benimana Jean Claude of Rwanda, and Faisal Ali of Kenya, the movement challenged the notion that regional integration belonged only to institutions and political elites. In 2018, the crusaders adopted the Street Orientation Declaration , affirming that ordinary citizens should be the architects not merely the beneficiaries of East African integration.
In 2019, the movement convened its first open General Assembly at Malaba Border and, in 2023, adopted the Citizens Charter, formally establishing the organization CIRI. In 2026, CIRI resolved to register in Uganda and progressively incorporate across all EAC Partner States, reaffirming its vision of a truly people-driven East African Community.
We believe that genuine regional integration must emerge from the aspirations, participation, and ownership of the people themselves. Integration should not be imposed from above; it should evolve naturally through shared experiences, mutual interests, cultural connections, and collective ambitions. Institutions must serve as enablers and facilitators of this process, empowering citizens rather than replacing their agency. CIRI advocates for an integration model rooted in indigenous knowledge, local ownership, grassroots mobilization, and African solutions to African challenges. We believe that sustainable integration can only flourish when it is nurtured by the will, confidence, and active participation of the people.
We place citizens at the heart of regional integration and decision-making.
We uphold justice, accountability, transparency, and constitutional governance.
We champion inclusive growth and equitable development that benefits all citizens.
We believe in African unity, solidarity, and collective advancement.
We foster cooperation, mutual support, and shared responsibility among East African peoples.
We are sovereign and independent from external direction or influence