Border Management Conference

The 6th Annual International Border Management Conference took place in Istanbul, the Republic of Türkiye. The main objectives of this conference were to update the audience about the recent policy or strategic developments in the main relevance to integrated border management and suggest innovative solutions for the improvement of border management worldwide. 

The attention was focussed mostly on the efforts towards setting harmonised practices or approaches in support to enhanced cooperation and coordination at the borders.  The conference also served as an occasion to share, present, and discuss practices and methods for supporting actual and aligned implementation of these practices at multiagency level but also across borders.

The 2022 conference was held live in Amman, Jordan. The format brought border management professionals together face to face in order to engage in dialogue on state-of-the-art developments, good practices and the latest trends and research related to the field of border governance. 

The main objectives of the conference were to address the following topics:

• Practices and recommendations for strengthening operational capacity in professional and modern border management, with focus on the integrated border management approach in all its diversity and potential;

• How changes in mobility, trade and technology could impact integrated border management.

The 2021 conference took place in Ukraine, only months before the war began. This edition was held in hybrid format, as Covid restrictions still limited the ability for large groups to gather, and therefore was also streamed live. It was expertly co-hosted by The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

The main focus of the event were the dual contribution of (integrated) border management to state development while continuing to act as a safeguard of security, and Information exchange in the context of border management.

The 3rd edition of the Border Management Conference took place during the global pandemic. It was the first time shifting the conference into a live-stream and virtual format.

On one hand, it was feared that the lack of face-to-face interaction would hamper discussions and participation, but on the other hand, the greatest advantage was the ability to reach a much wider audience than ever possible before. The online modality in fact launched the annual conference into receiving much greater exposure, and therefore a greater diversity of insights, for which we can only be grateful. 

The main themes of the conference addressed the challenges to border management in the era of tomorrow as well as those related to morphing technologies, and suggested different paths to streamline the work of border agencies in a comprehensive and methodological way.

The 2nd International Border Management Conference was organised in Armenia, focusing on various topics related to border management as a part of comprehensive border governance.

This topic, as a fil rouge, was discussed and presented from different perspectives, ranging from the academic point of view to the perception of practitioners.

Inter alia, the event explored how a shift from the management of borders towards comprehensive border governance may provide the tools needed to face dynamic challenges facing border management professionals.

This conference was the first annual International Border Management Conference held by ICMPD, and was made possible under the EU-funded project “Enhanced Capability for Integrated Border Management in Lebanon” (IBM Lebanon Phase II), along with the support of many other ICMPD-led projects and donors, in order to bring together a comprehensive group of experts, practitioners and officials to discuss and share experiences in the field of Border Management.

The conference sought to address four main topics: integrated border management (IBM); trade facilitation; technology driven challenges; and educational initiatives for border personnel.