The Intergovernmental Authority on Development was established in 1996. It succeeded the earlier Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD), a multinational body founded in 1986 by Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya, with a focus on development and environmental control. IGADD's headquarters were later moved to Djibouti, following an agreement signed in January 1986 by the member states. Eritrea joined the organization in 1993, upon achieving independence.

IGAD  was  created  in  1996  to  supersede  the  Intergovernmental  Authority  on  Drought  and Development(IGADD),  which  was  founded  in  1986.  This followed the recurring and severe drought and other natural disasters between 1974 and 1984 that caused widespread famine, ecological degradation and economic hardship in the Eastern Africa region. Although individual countries made substantial efforts to cope with the situation and received  generous  support  from the  international  community,  the  magnitude  and  extent  of  the  problem argued strongly for a regional approach to supplement national efforts.

In 1983 and 1984, six countries in the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia,Sudan and Uganda) took action through the United Nations to establish an intergovernmental body to collectively combat drought and desertification in the region.  The Assembly of Heads of State and Government met in January 1986 to sign the agreement that officially launched IGADD with headquarters in Djibouti. The State of Eritrea became the seventh member after attaining independence in 1993 and South Sudan joined in 2011.

In April 1995 in Addis Ababa, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government made a declaration to revitalize IGADD and expand cooperation among Member States. On 21st March 1996 in Nairobi, the Assembly signed “Letter of Instrument to amend the IGADD Charter” establishing the revitalized regional organization with a new name, “Intergovernmental Authority on Development”. IGAD with expanded areas of regional cooperation and a new organizational structure was launched during the Summit of the Heads of State and Government on 25th November 1996 in Djibouti.

EU-LISTCO investigates the challenges posed to European foreign policy by identifying risks connected to areas of limited statehood and contested orders.

In 1994, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs founded the Cairo Regional Center for Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping in Africa (CCCPA) as an independent, non-partisan center of excellence in training, capacity building and research in the fields of conflict prevention and resolution, crisis management, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, transnational threats, and preventing radicalization and extremism leading to terrorism.
In 2017, Prime Ministerial Decree no.1396/2017 rechartered CCCPA as the "Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding" - an independent public agency under the suzerainty of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, with an international geographical mandate that covers all peace and security-related issues.

The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), together with over 40 partners from across the globe, has established an international network to jointly research the effectiveness of peace operations.  Each EPON case study focuses on a specific peace operation using a common methodology. In their own right, these case studies provide unique insights into specific operations.  Jointly, however, the case studies also create a comprehensive resource on peace operations and their effectiveness. 

The European Institute of Peace (EIP) is an independent body that partners with European states and the European Union to craft strategic and effective approaches to conflict prevention, resolution, dialogue and mediation.