Cotonou – From 6-7 December 2023, a Regional Conference on Border Community Engagement organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) bringing together national border management agencies, regional institutions, and civil society representatives from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo concluded with a series of recommendations to improve border community engagement to contribute to strengthen border security in the region.

Through sharing of best practices, lessons learnt, and challenges, the workshop aimed to foster regional and cross-border cooperation to strengthen policy, institutional mechanisms and technical capacity related to border community engagement.  

Reinforcing border community engagement is a key element of the 2020 African Union Strategy for A Better Integrated Border Governance which aims to provide a framework through which African governments can work jointly to turn their international boundaries “from porous but thick to soft but well-governed borders and to develop border areas into spaces of peace, security, and development.”

Over the last five years, this has become more urgent in the coastal countries, notably due to the increasing activities of violent extremist organizations (VEOs) operating across borders of their neighbours in the Sahel, notably Burkina Faso. VEOs have capitalized on socio-economic and political fissures within and between border communities, leading to the death of thousands and the displacement of an estimated 2 million people in Burkina Faso alone. Since 2021, this has resulted in Togo and Benin witnessing several fatal attacks and all coastal countries recording an influx of displaced persons from Burkina Faso into their northern border regions.

"This gathering is an ideal opportunity for countries to ensure a coordinated approach to cross-border community engagement, which is crucial for effective border security," said Mr Abasse Olossoumare, Director of Cabinet, on behalf of the Minister of the Interior and Public Security of Benin, in his opening address.

Participants highlighted the important role that border community engagement plays in responding to contemporary border security challenges. African Union, ECOWAS, G5 Sahel, West African Economic and Monetary Union (Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine, UEMOA), and Liptako Gourma Authority provided good insights into their related planned and ongoing interventions. The conference concluded with a set of recommendations on how to better integrate border community engagement approaches in border governance interventions. 

The conference was organized thanks to the financial contributions of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the Government of the United States of America under the Strengthening the Northern Borders of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo project implemented by the International Organization for Migration.

For more information, please contact Nnamdi Iwuora, Senior Programme Manager, Immigration and Border Governance, IOM Ghana, at niwoura@iom.int.