CEWARN in collaboration with the Horn of Africa Programme of the Life and Peace Institute convened a workshop to review and further develop a draft policy framework on informal cross border trade and cross border security governance on 1-3 August 2017 in Addis Ababa. The workshop brought together IGAD experts from the IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and sustainability Initiative (IDDRISI), the IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development (ICPALD), and IGAD Security Sector Programme (ISSP) among others as well as a representative from COMESA.

The draft policy framework was developed within the context of a collaborative project among CEWARN, LPI , the Organisation of Social Science Research for Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) and the InterAfrica Group (IAG) intended to explore policy response in leveraging informal cross border trade to enhance cross border security governance.

The project was conceived over two years ago and it involved the commissioning of country based and borderland studies to understand the dynamics of Informal Cross border trade as well as extensive engagements with CSOs, traders and borderland communities as well as Member State officials representing trade, security and customs sectors.

The workshop provided strong input in further refining the draft policy framework and CEWARN in collaboration with partners intends to convene similar forums involving member states, IGAD, other regional and continental experts to finalize the policy framework before its adoption by Member States.