Towards the completion of the land boundary demarcation by 2012

23 Jul 2011

Towards the completion of the land boundary demarcation by 2012

Abuja, 23 July 2011 - The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission concluded its Twenty-Eighth Session in Abuja, Nigeria today. The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission was established by the United Nations (UN) at the request of Cameroon and Nigeria, to facilitate implementation of the International Court of Justice Decision (2002) regarding the peaceful resolution of the delimitation of the border between the two countries.

In the final communiqué, both Cameroon and Nigeria reiterated their commitment to complete the cartographic delimitation of their common land border by the end of 2012. So far Cameroon and Nigeria have already reached agreement on over 1,600 km of an estimated 1,950 km boundary.

In order to meet this objective, the Mixed Commission instructed its Sub-commission on demarcation to find effective and practical solutions to quickly reach agreement on the remaining 350 km land border areas that include the skipped areas, areas of disagreement and inaccessible areas. The Mixed Commission stressed the need to complete those remaining demarcation activities in a positive spirit, building upon the environment of trust and confidence already existing between the two countries.

The Mixed Commission welcomed the progress reported by the UN Country Teams of Cameroon and Nigeria regarding the confidence building initiatives in favor of the populations affected by the demarcation within the framework of the Mixed Commission process. It commended the efforts of the United Nations to emphasize the human dimension of the process and its commitment to support the development of cross border socio-economic initiatives towards harmonious co-existence between populations on both sides of the boundary thus maintaining security, peace and stability in the sub-region.

Both Cameroon and Nigeria urged the United Nations to continue providing the financial and technical support to the demarcation works as well as assisting them in mobilizing the funding required for the Mixed Commission to complete its mandate.

The twenty-eighth session of the Mixed Commission will be held in Yaoundé from 8 to 9, December 2011.

Background

The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission was established by the United Nations (UN) at the request of Cameroon and Nigeria, to facilitate implementation of the International Court of Justice Decision (2002) regarding the peaceful resolution of the delimitation of the border between the two countries. The mandate of the Mixed Commission is, inter alia, to support the demarcation of the land and maritime borders, and facilitate the transfer of jurisdiction along the border. The Mixed Commission is also tasked to come up with recommendations on the measures to be taken to address the humanitarian and socio-economic needs of the affected border populations.

The two countries have agreed on the delimitation of the maritime border and decided to close the issue at the last session of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission held in Yaoundé on 10 and 11 March 2011. Withdrawal and transfer of authority in the Lake Chad area, along the land border and in Bakassi Peninsula were progressively finalized between 2004 and 2008.

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For more information: Laurence Gerard, Public Information Officer for the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA) - Office: 221 33-869-8560 - Mobile: 221 77- 3324928 - E-mail: gerardl@un.org - http://unowa.unmissions.org