Intervention by Gilbert Barthe, UNDP Programme Manager, Co-Chair Friends of Nairobi Declaration

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Friends of Nairobi Declaration

The Friends of Nairobi Declaration was originally launched by Kenya’s Minister for Foreign Affairs in New York in July 2001 where he appealed for the creation of a group of ‘Friends of Nairobi Declaration’ to support the implementation of the Declaration in the region. The group officially met for the first time on 8th of August 2002 at the end of the First Ministerial Review Conference. The Friends of the Nairobi Declaration subsequently met on 18th of June 2003, 24th of September 2003 and 14th of January 2004.

At this last meeting, Terms of Reference for the Friends of the Nairobi Declaration were finalized, defining the objectives, the composition and the operation mode. The Friends of the Nairobi declaration comprises of a broad group of donors representing the international community and international and local civil society partner organizations with a regional mandate interested to participate and help support the Nairobi Declaration. Within this group, a Programme Steering Committee, including Donors who have provided funding to the Secretariat, oversees progress and use of the funds.

The objectives of the Friends of Nairobi Declaration

To provide broad political support to maintain the momentum behind the Nairobi Declaration to ensure it will have lasting impact on the region.

To provide resources where required and agreed on a bilateral basis to ensure that the Secretariat is able to fulfill its mandate while ensuring basic principles of cost effectiveness and value for money are closely adhered to.

To provide a forum for donor co-ordination to the Nairobi Declaration to ensure overall coherence of the programme.

To ensure information exchange and sharing between different donor-funded small arms and conflict management programmes in the region and the Nairobi Secretariat.

To provide practical and operational support to the Secretariat in the form of advice and guidance on implementation of its mandate.

The full recruitment of the Secretariat’s staff, the relocation into independent premises in the first part of 2003 and the high motivation shown by the Team from the region to embrace its mandate and function have been seen by the Friends of the Nairobi Declaration as very encouraging. Since then, regular meetings have served as a useful tool allowing for closer working relationships between the Secretariat and stakeholders interested in the fight against the proliferation of small arms in the region. Such meetings offered the opportunity to the Secretariat to brief regularly on their progress on the establishment of National Focal Points and implementation of the National Action Plans among country signatories to the Nairobi Declaration. Meetings also allowed the Secretariat to present its strategic plan for 2004 – 2007, and share with the Friends of the Nairobi Declaration positive steps and issues of concern.

In his intervention during the first Ministerial Review Conference in August 2002, the Deputy High Commissioner from the British High Commission, Mr. Paul Harvey, underlined two very important points as key for future success in implementing the Nairobi Declaration:

a) progress in the implementation of the Nairobi Declaration have to be seen and felt by ordinary people in the region, and therefore need to have an impact on their lives.

b) even with the presence of a efficient Secretariat, it is primarily the responsibility of all states and civil society groups to implement the Nairobi Declaration

In April 2004, four years after the signing of the Nairobi Declaration, despite the launch of the first national action plans emanating from its Agenda for action, no one can yet affirm sincerely that the security situation of ordinary citizens has improved through this process alone. Yes, there have been positive progress on citizens’ security in some countries signatory to the Nairobi Declaration, but this is mainly due to political processes towards peace and demobilization.

Proliferation of illicit small arms and the will to use them has yet to be addressed in many countries at the community level, through the provision of programmes combining support to conflict resolution, capacity building to law enforcement authorities, community participation in small arms control activities in exchange of development incentives. This will bring the Nairobi Declaration to the people of the region, to its sole and real beneficiaries.

While States signatory to the Nairobi Declaration bear the primary responsibility for its implementation, at the same time, States decided for the creation of a Secretariat for a coordinating role. The funding situation of the Secretariat and its current dependency on donors has been a concern for both the Secretariat and the Friends of the Nairobi Declaration, and this issue has been discussed on several occasions. Off course, interested stakeholders, through the Friends of the Nairobi Declaration group, will continue to provide support to the Secretariat in its endeavors.

Nevertheless, The Friends of the Nairobi Declaration would see with satisfaction any additional support States could provide to the Secretariat as a sign of increased commitment and ownership over a coordinated implementation of the Nairobi Declaration. In the name of the Friends of the Nairobi Declaration, I would like to thank sincerely the Coordinator of the Nairobi Secretariat, Mr. Sang, and his staff, for the progress accomplished so far and the efficiency demonstrated in implementing their coordination role. I would also like to thank all States signatory to the Nairobi Declaration for the progress achieved and additional milestones reached during this conference in the implementation of the Nairobi Declaration for the benefit of the entire population of the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa Regions.