At the end of last year Djibouti deposited its instruments of accession to AEWA and as of 1st March will become the 45th Contracting Party to the Agreement. Djibouti lies on the eastern coast of Central Africa. Its neighbouring countries are Eritrea to the north, Ethiopia to the west and southwest and Somalia to the southeast. The coastline of Djibouti is over 314 km long and borders on the Gulf of Aden as well as on the Red Sea.

The overall climate is very dry, as is the land, which is largely of volcanic origin and desert. Djibouti hosts a number of migratory waterbirds that are covered by the Agreement, e.g. the Black Stork (Ciconia nigra), White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), Little Stint (Calidris minuta), Kittlitz's Plover (Charadrius pecuarius), Common Crane (Grus Grus), Lesser Crested Tern (Sterna bengalensis), Great Crested Tern (Sterna bergii), Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor), Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta), Spur-winged Plover (Vanellus spinosus). Apart from this agreement, Djibouti has already ratified several agreements dealing with conservation issues, i.e. the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the Convention to Combat Desertification and the Convention on Climate Change. On behalf of the Contracting Parties the UNEP/ AEWA Secretariat welcomes Djibouti to the 'AEWA family'.