Ghana, 2 neighbours hold week-long bilateral engagement

Ghana is currently holding two separate bilateral meetings with Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire in Wa in the Upper West Region to harmonise and validate legal texts that will govern the establishment and operationalisation of local groups for cross-border cooperation (LGCBCs) between Ghana and each of the other two countries.  

The initiative, which is expected to end today, Saturday, August 29, seeks to strengthen cooperation, promote dialogue and facilitate information sharing and joint action among communities and local-level state and non-state actors along the common boundary in the Savannah and Upper West regions.

Representatives from the relevant institutions and stakeholders from all three participating countries have converged in Wa for a week-long activities to discuss the proposed local structures to enhance collaboration within the targeted cross-border communities.

Meeting

The Deputy Commissioner General of the Ghana Boundary  Commission (GhBC), Frederick Somuah Obeng, at the opening of the first bilateral meeting between Ghana and Burkina Faso indicated that the initiative sought to build robust and sustainable local structures between the targeted cross-border districts and communities of the two countries.

He added that the initiative would improve resilience in the target border communities and foster shared socio-economic development along the boundary.

Mr Obeng further emphasised that the proposed cooperation structure would provide a platform for local authorities and security agencies on each side to work together in addressing common challenges and in identifying opportunities for mutual development.

“The LGCBCs have the potential to become important platforms for identifying common challenges, developing joint solutions, strengthening community resilience, promoting local development and deepening social cohesion among border communities on both sides of our common boundary”, the Deputy Commissioner General stressed.

Mr Somuah Obeng further stated that the establishment of the LGCBCs was an important local-level dimension to broader bilateral agreements and conventions that existed between Ghana and Burkina Faso. 

Establishment

“The establishment of the LGCBCs should therefore be viewed as an important local-level dimension of these broader bilateral frameworks.

“These groups should serve as practical avenues for bringing the spirit and objectives of our bilateral cooperation closer to the communities and local authorities that experience the realities of our shared boundary on a daily basis,” he reiterated.

Participants

The Upper West Regional Minister, Charles Lwanga Puozuing, who co-chaired the meeting, encouraged participants to actively contribute to the discussions, describing the bilateral validation phase as a critical stage in establishing sustainable cross-border cooperation between the cross-border regions.

For his part, the Governor of the Djoro Region and the leader of the Burkina Faso delegation and co-chair of the meeting, Camarade Siaka BARO, expressed appreciation to the Ghana Boundary Commission, the National Boundary Secretariat of Burkina Faso and the political leadership of both countries for their continued commitment to strengthening cooperation and improving the development prospects of communities living along the common boundary.

Project

The West Africa Regional Coordinator of the GIZ/AUBP, representing the Sikasso, Korhogo-  Bobo dioulasso-Wa  ( SKBoWa) Project, v Mamoudou Tapily, said the LGCBCs were concrete and powerful institutional levers  that conferred legal personality and the capacity for direct action upon neighbouring local authorities.