Cross-Border Cooperation

Best Practices CSO Forum

African Union Adopts Niamey Convention, a Milestone in Cross-Border Cooperation

Following the vision of an integrated Africa with the aim of having borders which serve as bridges rather than barriers, cross border cooperation has become a fundamental area of interest for the African Union. The 23rd ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, from 26th to 27th June 2014, adopted the African Union Convention on Cross- Border Cooperation, known as the Niamey Convention. The convention constitutes the first continental legal framework for cross-border cooperation and aims for:

Promotion of cross-border cooperation at local, sub regional and regional levels
Facilitation of delimitation, demarcation and reaffirmation of interstate boundaries, in conformity with mechanisms agreed upon by the parties concerned
Facilitation of the peaceful resolution of border disputes,
Ensuring efficient and effective integrated border management,
Transformation of border areas into catalysts for growth, socio-economic and political integration of the continent; and
Promotion of peace and stability through conflict prevention and continental integration for strengthened unity

The legal framework put in place by the Niamey convention serves as a tool for formalizing cooperation between countries, making it possible to accelerate the process of regional and continental integration and to resolve border disputes peacefully.

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Good Case Practices on CBC

A good practice is a successful and replicable process or methodology that has achieved its objectives and can be recommended as a model. To determine whether a practice is a good practice, it should be effective, technically feasible, inherently participatory, and replicable and adaptable. The AUBP collects good practices on cross-border cooperation (CBC), which aims to promote and strengthen good-neighborly relations between border populations, territorial communities, and administrations. Another criterion for a good practice on CBC is that it reduces the barriers to cross-border cooperation by encouraging good neighborliness and strengthening border governance.

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Incubator for Integration and Development in East Africa-IIDEA and cross border trade facilitation

Strengthening Kenya/Ethiopia effort(s) to contain illicit flows at Moyale (Kenya- Ethiopia) border through operationalization of newly constructed one stop border post (OSBP): To spur economic growth, cross border cooperation and Social integration.

Improving neighborly relations, peaceful co-existence and conflict prevention between Turkana of Kenya and Toposa and Nyangatom of South Sudan by disseminating MOU which was signed on 17th June 2019 by Kenya and South Sudan

Cross-border regional peace enhancement and trade extension (create)

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Collaborative response to conflict trigger accountability dynamics along Turkana and Jie borderlands

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The GLCT are bodies for cross-border cooperation between local and regional authorities located on both sides of a border. They are governed by public law and have legal personality and financial autonomy, with an unlimited lifespan. They are governed by a convention, statutes, rules of procedure and the principle of the right of seat. For example, the vision of the Tominian-Kossi GLCT between Mali and Burkina Faso is to "make the Tominian-Kossi cross-border area, a model of socio-economic and cultural integration of proximity by 2026 based on the promotion of promising sectors, opening up, strengthening basic social services and promoting security and social cohesion".

The local and regional authorities concerned by the GLCT intervene in the areas within their competences, in particular socio-economic and cultural development, the development of cross-border areas, the improvement of the daily living conditions of the population and the institutional development of the member local authorities.

The governance bodies of the GLCT are composed of a Council, a Bureau and a Permanent Secretariat. Each member municipality is represented in the Council by two, three or four members (the Mayor, two presidents of the working committee and the Secretary General of the municipality) according to the provisions of the legal texts of each GLCT. The GLCT Council meets in ordinary session three (3) times a year. It elects the members of its board and regulates the life of the groupings by the deliberations they take place. They decide on the vision of GLCT and the direction of their activities.

The Board of the GLCTs are elected for a term of two (2) or three (3) years renewable only once. For example, the Board of the Tominian-Kossi CLWG is composed of a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary for Health and Education, a Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock and Fish Farming, a Secretary for Environment, a Secretary for Vocational Training, a Secretary for Finance and Economic Development, a Secretary for the Advancement of Women and a Secretary for the Advancement of Women responsible for youth, culture and integration.

The resources of the GLCT come from annual contributions from members, subsidies from the States, contributions from technical and financial artists, gifts and bequests, products relating to services rendered and any other revenue in accordance with the laws and regulations in force.

Therefore, planning tool for the GLCT is the Cross-Border Local Development Plan (PTDL), whose strategic axes are defined according to the main priorities of the cross-border area concerned. The overall objective of the PTDL is to strengthen cooperation between the municipalities of the cross-border area concerned and the level of socio-economic infrastructure equipment of the municipalities.

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On the ground posts

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Call for Applications: Borderlands CSOs Consultative Forum

The Life & Peace Institute. (LPI) and the African Union Border Programme (AUBP) are in the process of establishing a Borderlands Civil Society Consultative Forum which among others will serve as a consultative mechanism to support the implementation of the AUBP. The Forum will develop a joint workplan to strengthen collaboration and coordination in programming related to cross border cooperation1 and border governance. Furthermore, the forum will adopt a monitoring and evaluation mechanism to track its performance and effectiveness in the process.

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Our Newsletter: Read more about the activities to implement the African Union Border Programme across the continent

The African Union Border Programme has launched a bi-annual Newsletter to highlight ongoing activities in Member States and by Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as well as the African Union to implement the AUBP on the continent.

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