UNCDF, within the framework of its Local Cross-border Initiative (LoBI) program and the Municipality of Dori, have formalized a cooperation agreement by the official signature of a financing agreement fixing the grant amount and the modalities of management of the cross-border investments planned in the IIRSahel zone for year 2015.

A total of 286 400 USD has been granted by UNCDF to the municipality of Dori, which assumes the leadership and responsibility for the implementation of the investments. These investments include 200km of cross-border transhumance tracks, two vaccination parks, a slaughterhouse with a meat drying facility as well as the co-financing of an industrial animal feed production unit for the benefit of all IIRSahel zone communities.

The grant amount will not only help create much needed infrastructure in the livestock sector, it will also contribute to mobilizing additional financial resources from other partners (bilateral or multilateral, private sector or socio-professional organizations) by proving that a cross-border financial mechanism for investments in basic services and infrastructure can be a catalyst for regional integration and local economic development.

Using this mechanism, the LoBI program facilitates the access of local authorities in the border region to the investments by transferring the funds onto a special account opened for that purpose by the municipality of Dori on behalf of the C3Sahel, a cross-border governance structure set up between the local authorities of the three countries making up IIRSahel (Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali).

At the same time, UNCDF continues to support the municipalities of the IIRSahel zone in the formalization of the C3Sahel structure, which acts as a coordination and governance framework for cross-border cooperation in the IIRSahel region. It is expected that this cross-border structure will eventually replace the Municipality of Dori as project lead and become the first cross-border structure to effectively implement cross-border investments using a dedicated cross-border local development fund (LDF).

Furthermore, in order to strengthen the capacities of local authorities and in view of ensuring an adequate transmission of know-how, a management manual for the use of assigned funds will be made available to ensure an optimal use of the resources, thereby strengthening local governance. In addition to the management manual, local authorities will also benefit from additional tools to help them create a cross-border planning and investment process.

These tools include a handbook on how to implement cross-border projects as well as a cartographic manual that maps out the geographical, environmental, economic and other features of the IIRSahel territory and that includes an up-to-date register of key contacts (administrative, economic, sanitary, educational, etc.).

The process for implementing these investments will be based on a strong implication of the C3Sahel members (the local authorities) and other local actors. In a collaborative spirit, the local representatives, the municipal administration agents, the decentralized technical services, livestock farmers, farmers’ organizations and the populations directly concerned by the program LoBI, will get involved actively by means of the governance and dialogue structures within the C3Sahel, i.e. the Congress, the cross-border Steering committee and the Support and Technical Coordination Unit