A/HRC/44/23 country visits sent to the Sudan, on 16 September 2019, and to Kenya and Uganda, on 15 November 2019. The Permanent Mission of Egypt verbally communicated the refusal of Egypt to grant the Special Rapporteur’s request for a country visit, sent on 15 November 2019. III. Regional developments 7. During the period under review, Eritrea strengthened its engagement and cooperation with regional and international actors. 8. On 18 October 2019, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia launched an initiative to forge economic integration and regional cooperation in the Horn of Africa, which was formalized during the annual meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. The five countries agreed on priority projects and programmes to be developed with support of the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the European Union. 9. In early January 2020, Eritrea participated in the establishment of a new regional council, launched in Riyadh, comprised of eight Arab and African States bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. 1 The initiative is aimed at improving cooperation and coordination on maritime security issues. 10. On 27 January 2020, the Heads of State and Government of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia met in Asmara to discuss progress in their tripartite cooperation, as well as developments in the Horn of Africa region. They adopted a joint plan of action for 2020 to consolidate peace, stability and security and promote economic and social development. 11. While the leaders of Eritrea and Ethiopia have held various rounds of bilateral talks both in Addis Ababa and in Asmara, progress towards full normalization of relations has been slow. At the time of writing, Eritrea and Ethiopia have yet to adopt a bilateral framework to institutionalize their July 2018 peace agreement. Since April 2019, all the border crossings have remained closed on the Eritrean side, pending the negotiation of a trade agreement between both countries. Flights still connect the two countries, and people continue to find ways to cross the land borders informally. However, the closure of the borders has reduced the influx of goods from Ethiopia into Eritrea. Growing tensions between the regional authorities of the Ethiopian Tigray region, bordering Eritrea, and the authorities in Asmara have highlighted the practical complexities of operationalizing the peace agreement on the ground, and have put into question the feasibility of moving forward with the resolution of the countries’ long-standing border dispute. In January 2020, there were reports of a reinforcement of border security along the Eritrean border with the Tigray region. 12. The tensions between Djibouti and Eritrea over a 2008 border dispute remain unresolved. Eritrea has yet to release information about Djiboutian prisoners of war who have been unaccounted for since the June 2008 clashes between the two countries. In his update of August 2019, the Secretary-General reported that the positions of Djibouti and Eritrea on these issues remained divergent (S/2019/627). 13. Eritrea has yet to resume its participation in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the main regional body for the Horn of Africa. In November 2019, Ethiopia ceded the rotating chair to the Sudan. IV. Cooperation with the Special Rapporteur and engagement with international human rights bodies 14. During the period under review, Eritrea had a mixed record of cooperation and engagement with international human rights bodies and mechanisms. 1 4 The other members are Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the Sudan and Yemen.