Resumen

BLOCHER, Julia  y  GHARBAOUI, Dalila. Long Term Solutions to Cross-border Disaster Displacement: Lessons from West Africa. AHMR [online]. 2017, vol.3, n.3, pp.1020-1044. ISSN 2410-7972.

West Africa is known across the world for its admirable adherence to its long-held principles of hospitality and inclusion. It is also a sub-region whose population shares a deep common history, a fact that is ever more evident in the on-going integration of the politics and communities of this highly mobile area. States in the region have advanced measures for disaster risk management and response, and are forward looking in terms of the implications of climate change. Many relocation projects have already been developed and implemented in some West African countries, generally within national borders, in response to environmental disasters (e.g. contamination of the Niger River) or for economic reasons (e.g. villages relocated in western Ghana to make way for mining companies). Although fewer examples exist, some relocation projects specifically concern persons vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. This paper provides concrete suggestions for how regional cooperation can build on existing free movement and transhumance-related instruments to enable cross-border mobility and resettlement for people affected by disasters. It argues for the expansion of durable solutions for people living in protracted displacement following natural hazard induced disasters, an increasingly important question. Furthermore, circular movement enabled by labour and free movement protocols could be extended to enable people to gain necessary resources to rebuild their homes, rather than sentencing them to cope in situ. Regional solutions such as those presented in this paper may prove fundamental in enabling people to reconstruct their lives.

Palabras clave : West Africa; disaster; climate change; displacement; relocation; regional governance.

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