Niger - IOM has brought together government representatives from the Sahel G5 countries – Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Chad – and key partners for a two-day regional workshop on coordinated border management.

The meeting, held in Niamey from 29-30 July, was part of an IOM project: "Coordinated Border Management in Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso" funded by the Government of Japan.

The Sahel is currently one of the most sensitive and volatile regions of Africa. Faced by various security threats, States are not fully equipped to effectively control their borders and ensure human security.

"To best manage regional trans-border challenges, border management requires effective coordination between the technical and financial partners on the one hand and governmental players on the other," said  IOM Niger Chief of Mission Giuseppe Loprete.

The 12-month IOM project seeks to support and strengthen regional and national approaches to border management through a set of appropriate regional and specifically tailored national measures.

At the Niamey meeting, delegates reviewed a border management mapping carried out by governments and IOM to clarify national priorities and identify border posts that will need to be rehabilitated by the project.

The assessments will identify future priorities and harmonize the activities of international actors. They will also establish the roadmap for the remainder of the project implementation.

For more information, please contact Paloma Casaseca at IOM Niger, Email: pcasaseca@iom.int, Tel. +227 20 75 25 07 or +227 98 87 17 31. Or Marina Schramm, Email : mschramm@iom.int