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Ph: DR: Regional seminar on border areas in Cotonou
Experts from the Gulf of Guinea countries are meeting this Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at the Azalaï hotel in Cotonou, to take part in a regional seminar on the theme: “What forms of cooperation for the security of border areas and the management of pastoral mobility in the northern Gulf of Guinea States? “.
For two days, these experts will review the major issues related to cross-border security and pastoral mobility, in order to come up with possible solutions that can help governments make concrete and applicable decisions. This seminar aims to be a framework for exchanges and consultation between countries
sharing in common, certain social and cultural realities in order to deal effectively with security issues which constitute a major challenge in border areas.
The opening ceremony of the seminar was chaired by Alassane SEÏDOU, Minister of the Interior and Public Security of Benin, with the participation of Mrs Sylvia HARTLEIF, Ambassador of the European Union in Benin, Antoine De KAMP, Representative the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Benin and the Director General of Promediation.
In his opening speech, Minister Alassane SEÏDOU emphasized the particular current context, “marked by regular incursions by armed terrorist groups in several countries of the Gulf of Guinea with a clear desire to conquer their coasts”. He then urged the participants to demonstrate innovation, ingenuity and productivity in order to come up with innovative proposals that would benefit the entire sub-region.
The Director General of Promediation, for his part, thanked the European Union and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Benin for supporting the organization of the said seminar as well as the leaders of the Accra Initiative and the pastoral organizations which are the partners of Promediation.
As for the Representative of the Ambassador of the Netherlands and the Ambassador of the European Union, they stressed that this seminar is an excellent opportunity to share analyzes and experiences to establish cooperation between political, security and and pastoral on the conditions for managing and securing cross-border transhumance in order to limit violent extremism, radicalization and terrorism in the sub-region.
