Experts in maritime boundary and border demarcation from African Union (AU) member countries are meeting in Accra to come up with a policy for the demarcation of African land and maritime boundaries.

The move is to prevent border conflict and ensure peace and co-operation among member states.

The two-day Pan-African Conference on Maritime Boundaries and the Continental Shelf, under the auspices of the AU Mission, is being attended by European Union (EU) and GTZ representatives.

Opening the Conference, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, in a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Mr Henry Ford Kamel, said the AU Border Programme sought to facilitate and support the delimitation and demarcation of African land and maritime boundaries where such an exercise had not taken place.

Besides, he said, it was to reinforce the integration process within the framework of the regional economic communities and other large-scale co-operations.

Alhaji Dauda said the programme would ensure capacity building in the area of border management, including the development of special education and research programmes.

“The overall goal of the AU Border Programme is the structural prevention of conflicts and the promotion of regional and continental integration” he stressed

The Minister said Article 4 Annex II of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea enjoined coastal states to make submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in respect of the extension of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

He note that the AU Programme was challenged to assist African coastal and island states (38 out of the 53 member states of the AU) to develop the necessary capacity for the delimitation of their maritime spaces.

“This is especially important now that most African countries have made submissions to the CLCS for the extension of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles”, he said.

Alhaji Dauda gave the assurance that the Ghana Government would “do what it takes to support the AU Commission towards the implementation of the AU Border Programme.