Cross-Border Collaboration Programme in Western Ethiopia and Eastern Sudan (CBCES)

Project title:

Cross-Border Collaboration Programme in Western Ethiopia and Eastern Sudan (CBCES)

Start Date:

2018

End Date:

2021

Project Location:

In the Blue Nile State (BNS), CBCES intervenes in the localities of Al Tadamon, Ad Damanzin, Ar Roseires, and Qeissan and in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, the Woredas of Guba, Sherkole, Kurmuk, Homosha, Assosa, Bambasi, and Maokomo.

Cross-border cluster:

Blue Nile State - Benishangul-Gumuz Region

Priority Intervention areas (PIAs):

PIA 2: Market Access, Trade and Financial Services

PIA 3: Enhanced Production & Livelihood Diversification

PIA 6: Conflict Prevention, Resolution and Peace Building

PIA 8: Human Capital, Gender and Social Development

Lead Organization:

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Collaborating organizations:

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)

Government of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia

Government of the Republic of the Sudan

Financial sources:

European Union (EU)

German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Project description:

Working together with local and regional partners, the programme aims to support activities in the following areas:

Better income by increasing the value of products

Diversifying the means through which populations earn income is one way to increase resilience. This programme promotes and grows opportunities in agriculture, the dominant industry in the area, focusing on processing and marketing of horticulture, fishery, and non-timber products and also supports sustainable natural resource management.

Job and business opportunities for young people

To be more economically active, young people in the borderland need access to professional education and jobs. The programme is supporting vocational training on both sides of the border.

Better service delivery through improved basic infrastructure

Economic activity cannot be sustained without more effective delivery of basic services and improved infrastructure, particularly in the health sector. The programme is assisting local actors in Benishangul-Gumuz to renovate selected health centers and to improve water harvesting systems. To address water shortages in the Blue Nile State, the programme is rehabilitating local water storage systems (hafirs) and improves water supply for communities and their cattle.

Making peace, reducing conflict

Despite increased tension in the area, formal and informal peace building structures do exist in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region and the Blue Nile State. The programme helps them be better equipped to resolve conflicts (mostly about natural resources and between pastoralists and farmers) in their communities, working with the Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) of IGAD.

Effective trading across the border

Existing cross-border trade remains largely informal, and illicit trading is highly prevalent. The cross-border cooperation initiatives of the programme bring together communities and decision-makers on both sides of the boundary to formalise the sector and improve sustainable economic development of the border region. The goal is to increase coordination, improve trade and labor opportunities, and ease exchange. In cooperation with IGAD, the programme also facilitates experience and knowledge exchange with actors in other cross-border regions in the Horn of Africa.

Contacts:

Gerhard Mai / Programme Manager / gerhard.mai@giz.de

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