The Strengthening Border Security in Ghana Project, held a regional conference in Accra with high-level representatives and technical experts of the governments of Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo, to discuss issues related to security and cross-border cooperation from 8 to 10 November 2021.
The regional conference was attended by H.E Irchard Razaaly, the European Union Ambassador to Ghana, Madam Mojisola Sodeinde, Head of ICMPD,West Africa Region, Madam Adelaide Annor-Kumi, Chief of Staff, Ministry of the Interior - Ghana, Mr Alcide Djedje Illahari, Deputy Minister of African Integration-Cote d'Ivoire, Madam Clarisse Merindol Ouoba, Deputy Minister in charge of African Integration and Diaspora, Ministry of Foreign Affairs -Burkina Faso and Mr. Akobi Messan, Chief Director, Minister of Security and Civil Protection- Togo among other dignitaries.
The objective of the three-day conference was to propose policy solutions to strengthen coordination and cooperation at the operational level in cross-border areas.
Under coordination of ECOWAS and support of European Union, the four countries signed a joint communique, which committed to a common declaration for the benefit and security of citizens. The communique acknowledged the importance of ensuring effective coordination of border management, in particular through joint training and awareness raising activities, joint operations and patrols, harmonization of standard operating procedures, risk management, and information sharing. The final communique recommends keeping the conference as a consultative forum for periodic meetings and setting up a technical working group under a specific legal framework. The institutionalisation of informal collaboration frameworks along border areas were also identified as a priority for the four countries.
The final communique also underlined the importance of capturing those interventions under respective national budgets for securing quality and sustainability of service delivery. Effective border delimitation and demarcation was also underlined as a priority by the signatories of the document.
Ghana’s Minister of the Interior, Mr. Ambrose Dery in his address, commended ICMPD for the initiative of organising the Regional Conference and bringing together with other stakeholders and representatives working in the domain of border management to exchange and share experiences on issues of common interest.
The SBS Ghana project is funded by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) in collaboration with the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).