Strengthening EAC regional integration through citizen engagement: information dissemination strategy

Abstract

The study seeks to assess how information dissemination as a strategy can be used to strengthen EAC region integration process through citizen-engagement. The study explores the past and present EAC regional integration process and analyzes the viability of enabling citizens to own it through effective information dissemination. The study further examines the underlying challenges facing EAC regional integration process. It assesses the efforts that have been made in addressing the challenges slowing EAC integration process and establishing the relationship between regional integration and information dissemination as a strategy of engaging citizens to own the process. The study notes that a lot of research has been carried out concerning regional integration, its benefits, and challenges. However, little importance has been accorded to the role of information dissemination in sensitizing citizens on the stages of the regional integration process and its advantages with an aim of convincing them to shift their identity from their single states towards the region. The findings showed that, information dissemination is not fully utilized as a strategy of regional integration; therefore, citizens do not yet own the process and therefore have not become part of its actualization. However, efforts at citizen engagement continue to be made to address the situation and strengthen EAC regional integration through effective information dissemination.