On 24-26 February 2016 the Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, Vasu Gounden, participated in the ninth annual Wilton Park International Futures meeting, held in association with the United Kingdom’s (UK) Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence. The meeting, which was held at Wilton House in the UK, focused on the topic “The future of borders: geopolitical trends and challenges to 2030”.
The meeting aimed to explore the future of borders from a range of perspectives, including the impact of non-State actors, globalisation, inter-State competition and technological advancements. It focused discussion around topics such as what form borders would take in the future; who would shape those changes; what would be the drivers, challenges and opportunities; how international actors could respond; and what international frameworks would the world need. These are not theoretical discussions, borders can be an integral part of disputes. In November 2014 the Executive Director facilitated a confidence-building workshop in Ethiopia, dealing with border issues, for the members of the Republic of Sudan – Republic of South Sudan’s Joint Border Commission (JBC), under the auspices of the African Union’s (AU’s) High Level Implementation Panel for the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan, as well as the AU Border Programme. The workshop fed directly into the JBC’s inaugural meeting that was held on 21 November 2014.
