The project "Cross-Border Dialogue for Peace Responsive Actions to Prevent Conflict and Improve Natural Resource Management Along the Mali-Burkina Faso Border " was implemented in 2020-2021 by Interpeace and its partner the “Institut Malien Recherche Action pour la Paix” (IMRAP) in four border municipalities of the regions of Sikasso and the Hauts-Bassins. Its overall objective is to contribute to the prevention of violent conflicts and the improvement of social cohesion through better management of natural resources or other conflict risk factors in the Mali-Burkina Faso border regions of Sikasso/Hauts-Bassins. The project has achieved tangible results in terms of reducing tensions between different communities. In addition, the implementation of the cross-border dialogue project was characterized by its participatory approach throughout the process. From the diagnostic phase of the conflict situations in the border strip, involving the target localities, to the community and cross-border consultations, the approach consisted of putting local actors at the heart of all the stages by gathering their different points of view. Thus, after the consultation phase, which identified the root causes of the conflict, solutions were proposed. The solutions to strengthen social cohesion concern the implementation of community activities (soft solutions) but also the realization of infrastructures for common use in the second phase of the project which started in January 2022.

Each of the proposed soft solutions and infrastructures is linked to the resolution of specific problems (sources of conflict) that constitute an obstacle to peaceful coexistence between the populations on either side of the border.