Briefing Paper

Securing and Stabilising Borders in North and West Africa

Since the 2011 revolutions in Tunisia and Libya and the start of Mali’s internal conflict in 2012, states in North and West Africa have focused on building up their border security architecture. Locally led and donor funded border stabilisation and reform are generally undertaken as part of national reforms. Although such programmes are necessary, they rarely provide the tailored approach needed to deal with unique frontier issues.