African leaders urged to use borders as strong bridges
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By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
June 8, 2011(ADDIS ABABA) - The African Union (AU) on Tuesday
celebrated the first “African Border Day” at the AU headquarters, in
Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital calling on African countries to use
the continent’s borders to promote peace, stability and economic
prosperity.
The day celebrated under a theme “uniting and integrating Africa
through peaceful, open and prosperous borders” is a way of
popularising the AU Border Programme (AUBP) and mobilising the
requisite support for the efforts to promote peaceful and prosperous
borders in Africa.
In his opening remarks, commissioner Lamamra stressed the commitment
of the African countries to transform their borders from barriers into
bridges, as a way of addressing the legacy of conflict arising from
the inherited colonial boundaries.
“African leaders were convinced that 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”, said Ambassador Lamamra.
He further stated that the decision to prioritise the delimitation and
demarcation of the inherited borders was not predicated on a desire to
confine each country within its own designated territory:
“On the contrary, it means that border delimitation and demarcation is
a condition for successful integration. A non-defined border is
susceptible to being a source of contention, and even conflict. Border
delimitation and demarcation, in a way, removes its potential
nuisance; it opens the door rather than closes it; it allows for a
healthy process of cooperation and integration”.
African Border Day was recommended by the second meeting of the
African Ministers in charge of Border Issues, held in Addis Ababa, on
25 March 2010 with a strategy to enhance African unity through
political and economic integration.
The day conveyed a strong message that border issues which remain to
be continent’s source of bloodshed could be resolved peacefully if
borders are used to serve as bridges and not as barriers.
Africa aims to foster sustainable peace, mutual coexistence and
development on the continent by managing and self-demarcating
continent’s borders, which were established arbitrarily by colonial
powers.
The day was marked amid border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea
also North Sudan and South Sudan conflict in Abyei region among others
remain unsettled raising fears of a return to war.
(ST)
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