Burkina Faso : First 2024 session of the Border Council in Ouagadougou
The first regular session of the Border Council for the year 2024 was held on Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Ouagadougou, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Joachimson Kyelem, who is also the president of the council. Organized by the Ministry of Territorial Administration, Decentralization, and Security (MATDS), the meeting aimed to assess the border management actions undertaken in 2023.
In his speech, delivered by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Emile Zerbo, the Prime Minister emphasized that the overall objective of these efforts was to promote sustainable socio-economic and cultural development in border regions, within a context of peace and security.
Historically neglected, border regions have contributed to the deterioration of the current security situation. Thus, this session represented an opportunity to assess the progress of various initiatives related to border delimitation and transboundary cooperation, in order to identify gaps and challenges to be addressed.
The priority areas of this strategy included precise delimitation of national borders, securing border areas, strengthening state presence in these regions, promoting transboundary cooperation, sustainable management of shared natural resources and lands, as well as the development of socio-economic and cultural infrastructures, and capacity-building for local actors.
Before officially opening the session, the Prime Minister expressed gratitude to all actors and technical and financial partners who have contributed to the efforts of the Border Council over the past eight years. He also encouraged participants to fully engage in the implementation of the National Border Management Strategy, in order to transform border regions into peaceful and dynamic spaces.
It is worth noting that Burkina Faso established an institutional framework to improve border management ten years ago, with the creation of the National Border Commission in 2013 and the adoption of the National Border Management Strategy in 2015, covering the period 2016-2025. This strategy aimed to address development disparities among different regions of the country.
