Orientation briefs on border areas for organizations
undertaking activities near or within them
Menas Borders’s understanding of the dynamics of
borders places us in an excellent position to create
orientation briefings for organizations or businesses
undertaking activities in boundary regions.
“Borderlands” and peripheral regions often possess
markedly different characteristics to regions which
identify themselves as being closer to the core. There are
no straightforward rules. Borderland inhabitants may share
linguistic and cultural characteristics with their
neighbours in the adjoining state which put them at odds
with their own compatriots. Borderland inhabitants may feel
that they belong to the neighbouring state, or that they
and their immediate cross-border neighbours deserve a state
of their own. Or conversely, through living at the very
edge of the nation which claims them as citizens they may
feel their own nationality more keenly.
Economically, borderlands create both opportunities and
challenges for those living within them. Sometimes regions
furthest from the hub (central administrative region or
economic capital) appear marginalized and depressed, with
the black or grey economy displacing legitimate forms of
livelihood and unemployment levels can be high. And yet
governments typically invest public funds into border
zones- for example, creating the infrastructure required to
regulate trade, the passage of people, to prevent
smuggling, and to finance the upkeep of military
installations. This investment sometimes creates public
sector employment and secondary opportunities which are
disproportionate to those enjoyed by the rest of the
nation.
Other opportunities may lie in the immediate proximity
of a wealthy country with a poorer neighbour (think of the
maquiladora arrangements in Mexico with US companies). And
yet again, the reality of wealth and poverty juxtaposed is
often stark, the imbalance contributing to economic
migration (both legal and illegal), an upsurge in crime,
smuggling and prostitution, as inhabitants of both sides of
a line attempt to take advantage of the respective poverty
or wealth of the other.
These of course, are only some of the many facets of
borderlands, but through decades of experience of working
in and around these regions our teams are poised to help
your organization to understand the architecture of the
border-zone or boundary in which you intend to conduct your
activities, whether commercial or in the NGO/development
sector.