Borders & Coastguard Agency Nominated For The Borderpol Excellence in Border Management Award

The Borders and Coastguard Agency has been nominated for the BORDERPOL Excellence in Border Management Award. The Agency has been recognised for having moved ahead to improve the abilities and skills of its officers in a relatively short period of time by providing thorough training programmes and introducing work policies and protocols, bringing together its functions in a true implementation of integrated border management.

This is only the second time this award has been made, having gone to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority in Singapore last year. If successful, the Agency will be presented with the award at the World BORDERPOL Congress in The Hague this December.

In addition, the Agency’s Chief Executive, Andrew Bonfante, has been invited to form part of BORDERPOL’s Common Council, set up to oversee strategic operational programs and policies, and provide a platform to discuss global border security and management issues. BORDERPOL was established by a group of border and security experts in 2003 with historic ties to the International Border Police Conference. Over the past decade it has evolved into a global organisation linking the interdisciplinary nature of border security, traveller and migration management. It brings together the expertise and management skills of senior professional figures from government, industry and academia to create programs and activities designed to serve the international border security, traveller/migration management community the world over and make international borders smarter and safer. As a non-aligned international organisation it is ideally positioned to provide expert independent advice and help on Integrated Border Management, aiming to help stakeholders in the border security community to facilitate legitimate movement of people across borders, whilst enhancing security, protecting human rights and promoting best practice.

Commenting on the award and his position in the Common Council, the Chief Executive of the Borders and Coastguard Agency, Andrew Bonfante said “This is excellent news for the Agency and indeed Gibraltar; international recognition of the hard work every one of my officers has put in over the past four years to bring the Agency to the professional standard we enjoy today. It is very clear to me that by investing in training and development and the introduction of new protocols we invest in our people and improve the performance of our organisation. This award shows that we are committed to the professional development of our staff and indeed of our organisation and thus can ensure we keep Gibraltar open for business, delivering an effective and efficient service of the high standard expected of us as a professional public body. In addition the position in the Common Council will give us a voice in the international platform to discuss global border security and management issues.\"