The United Nations Development Programme has launched Africa Borderlands Centre at Lodwar in Turkana County and the office will be located in Nairobi for addressing the needs of borderland communities in the horn of Africa region.
Lodwar was chosen to host the Africa Borderlands Centre (ABC) because of Turkana county's strategic proximity to the borders with Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
The centre will be used to provide research, policy analysis and programmes dedicated to Africa’s borderland communities.
The Friday launch was attended by Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok, artists, activists, local stakeholders as well as several international and national officials from UNDP and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
UNDP Kenya representative Walid Badawi said the ABC is a way of giving voice to more than 270 million people living in borderland areas.
“The UNDP though the Africa Regional Bureau has set up Africa Borderland Centre to deliver the principle of not leaving anyone behind by addressing the specific needs of the borderland communities,” Badawi said.
The ABC will work with borderland influencers and leaders to co-create ‘innovation challenges’, aimed at transforming security, economic and environmental vulnerabilities in the regions into opportunities for inclusive development.
Nanok said he has led the successful border peace engagement and intergovernmental peace meetings with the neighbouring countries including Southern Omo in Ethiopia, Kapoeta in South Sudan and Karomoja District in Uganda.
“The resolution of such peace engagements formed the basis of structured implementations of peace and basic service delivery in the shared borderlands. We are strengthening peacebuilding and conflict management mechanisms to create stable conditions for other programmes. We are also investing in rainwater harvesting to meet human and livestock needs such as dams to facilitate successful transitions from periods of drought,” the governor said.
He added, “We are supporting the implementation of health programmes for human and livestock disease surveillance and vaccination of livestock in the borderlands, enhancing market access, livestock trade and value chain to benefit the pastoralists.”
CS Eugene said the establishment of the UNDP Africa Borderland Centre will boost research and policy analysis to deal with borderland issues.
“This region has been marginalised historically and but its an area that holds great potential in terms of natural resources but because of insecurity, cattle rustling and many other challenges they have not been able to realise their potential,” Eugene said.
He said the ABC will “most importantly integrate the communities because many of them are very similar in culture, livelihoods and what they need is water, pastures, infrastructure and conducive environment to bring the communities together to avoid the resource-based conflicts.”
IGAD executive secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said “when goods do not cross borders, soldiers will.”
“In other words, integrated trade is one of the best deterrents of conflict. For us at IGAD and the communities we work with in cross border areas, we firmly believe that sustainable state-building must fully and deliberately account for and accommodate borderland areas,” Gebeyehu said.
He said the new office was a critical addition to ongoing efforts and initiatives in the IGAD region for a more inclusive approach that pulls borderlands from the periphery and brings them closer to the centre of policy and development.
"This new approach is vital to pushing back the boundaries of underdevelopment and transforming borderlands into frontiers of prosperity and integration,” he said.
Edited by P.O
