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Burkina Faso

Practical guide to cross-border co-operation

 

This CD-ROM provides local actors, technical operators, governments, regional organisations and donors with analyses of possible approaches for facilitating financial and legal arrangements. To put the theory into practice, a pilot has been carried out on the Mali-Burkina Faso border, more specifically in the mango sector. The recommendations included in the “practical guide” are based on international “good practices” in the field of cross border development, but its status is merely advisory. A selection of maps of West African borders is also included.


Contents

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Objectives

  • To highlight the cross-border potential and needs of Mali – Burkina Faso and propose tools for implementing operational frameworks;
  • To provide policy recommendations regarding regional and national legislative contexts;
  • To help design regional strategies on the basis of sample pilot projects and propose a methodology developing solutions tailored to each situation.

Methodology

The participative process involves focal points in the Malian Ministry for Territorial Administration and Local Authorities and the Burkina Faso Ministry for Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, private economic actors and representatives of local and regional governments. The methodology stresses the need to take each context into account in developing operational frameworks (more or less rigid or informal). It is for this reason that field missions, interviews and a review of existing situations have been included in a preliminary assessment. The process involves frequent meetings at which views are exchanged with the relevant stakeholders and culminates in a validation workshop. The recommendations included in the “practical guide” are based on international “good practices” in the field of cross border development, but its status is merely advisory. Before they are transposed into national or regional legislation, recommendations should be carefully evaluated in terms of feasibility and sequencing.

 

Team

Contributors: focal points in the Malian Ministry for Territorial Administration and Local Authorities (Ladji Sogoba) and the Burkina Faso Ministry for Territorial Administration and Decentralisation (Ernest Dramane Diarra), experts from the Cross-border operational organisation (MOT), local consultants (Dr. Saïdou Sanou, Michel Bolouvi, Emmanuel Salliot),

 

Funding

In addition to general contributions of SWAC Members, the practical guide has benefitted from a special funding provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation.