IOM has had a long-standing and successful cross-border capacity-building programme in place in Ukraine and Belarus. The project has demonstrated in practical terms the ways in which two countries can cooperate across a common border to enhance border management, and also has demonstrated new technologies provided through the IOM programme.
The Western Balkan countries have faced similar issues in their efforts to address border management. To assist the Balkan countries in developing their plans, IOM conducted a joint field visit by the Western Balkan delegations to the Ukraine/Belarus border project site. The specific purposes of the field visit included the following: (1) to provide a thorough and practical understanding of the goals and process of an IOM cross-border improvement project, set within the context of a comprehensive migration management capacity-building programme; (2) to examine the various technical improvements that have been put in place through the project, including green border surveillance technology, cross-border communications and coordination, checkpoint improvement and complementary staff training initiatives, in light of specific needs of each south eastern European country; (3) to identify differences in context between each participating south eastern European country and Ukraine/Belarus that would shape further planning and cooperation; and (4) to create a realistic forward plan for joint action with IOM on migration management matters, including border management improvement.