H.E Ambassador Smail Chergui will deliver an opening keynote presentation at the 4th World BORDERPOL Congress in The Hague, Netherlands on 8th-10th December.
The Africa Union Commission for Peace and Security is responsible for the African Union Border Programme (AUBP), designed to unite and integrate Africa through peaceful, open and prosperous borders.
Since African countries gained independence, the borders – which were drawn during the colonial period in a context of rivalries between European countries and their scramble for territories in Africa, have been a recurrent source of conflicts and disputes on the continent. Most of the borders are poorly defined. The location of strategic natural resources in cross-border areas poses additional challenges.
The African Union Boundary Information System (AUBIS) has developed a comprehensive set of tools that provide reference information about borders in Africa
This challenge was taken up early enough by African leaders, who were inspired by the conviction that the achievement of greater unity and solidarity among African States and peoples requires the reduction of the burden that is imposed upon them by borders. Indeed, by transcending the borders as barriers and promoting them as bridges linking one State to another, Africa can boost the ongoing efforts to integrate the continent, strengthen its unity and promote peace, security and stability, through the structural prevention of conflicts.
The establishment of the AUBP aims:
• To address the problems posed by the lack of delimitation and demarcation, which gives rise to ‘undefined zones’, within which the application of national sovereignty poses problems, and constitutes a real obstacle to the deepening of the integration process;
• To address cross-border criminal activities through pragmatic border management;
• To consolidate the gains made in the regional integration process, as demonstrated by the existence of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and of numerous large-scale cooperation initiatives; and
• To facilitate the development of cross-border integration dynamics, which are sustained by local stakeholders
The AUBP is being implemented at national, regional and continental levels on the basis of the principle of subsidiarity and respect of the sovereignty of States.
H.E Ambassador Smail Chergui will address the international border management, protection and enforcement agencies at the World BORDERPOL Congress to deliver an insightful contribution of the African Union Border Programme (AUBP), as well as the challenges facing Africa as a continent of migration and a transitional point to Europe.
Come and listen to the views of Ambassador Smail Chergui and many other border protection, management and enforcement agencies from around the world and explore the opportunities for 'Enhancing collaboration in global border protection and management challenges'.
The World BORDERPOL Congress is the only multi-jurisdictional transnational platform where border protection, management, policy-makers, practitioners and industry convene annually to discuss the international challenges faced in protecting not only one’s own country’s borders, but those of neighbours and friends. This year Congress takes place in The Hague, Netherlands with a leading line up of international speakers from government, agencies and industry experts. The World BORDERPOL Congress is a high level, 3 day event providing you with the opportunity to reach the senior decision makers in the border protection and management industry.