This is a report after a regional workshop held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire from 17-19 June 2009, on “Finding responses to trans-border crime in West Africa: the role of parliaments”. The aim of the Workshop was to look into the latest developments of trans-border crime and  its impact in West Africa, to discuss recent approaches to combatting this kind of crime and in particular, to scrutinize the way in which sub-regional parliaments can contribute to the development of security policies and the actual oversight of the security sector.