The First Ministerial Review Conference of the Nairobi Declaration on the Problem of the Proliferation of Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa
Statement by Mrs Rebecca NabutolaPS Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation at the Official Opening of the Experts Meeting of the Nairobi Declaration on Small Arms
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
It is a great privilege for me to officially open the experts meeting of the ministerial review conference on small arms.
Let me take this early opportunity to welcome you all to Nairobi. It is my hope that you will enjoy the warm hospitality of the Kenyan people. I would like to express Kenya appreciation to the state parties for accepting to assemble in Nairobi for this Conference.
The importance of this conference cannot be overemphasized. Prolonged armed conflicts, cattle rusting, car jacking and a host of other violent criminal activities in this region have been exacerbated by the easy availability of illicit small arms. The continued political instability in some of the countries which are parties to the Nairobi declaration has created a loophole for criminal to easily traffic in illicit arms undetected.
All this criminal activities have disrupted socioeconomic activities and resulted in stagnation of economic development, furthermore the displacement of people as a result of armed conflicts has created a serious problem of refugees and internally displaced persons.
It is in this regard that this meeting has
been convened with the key objective of reviewing
the implementation of the Nairobi declaration.
There is no doubt that a lot has been achieved
since the signing of the declaration. The establishment
of National Focal Points to assist in the implementation
of the declaration is a significant development.
This meeting therefore provides us with unique
opportunity to review our successes and challenges,
identify key priorities for implementation
and chart the way forward for the coming year
and
beyond.
Time has come for the region to harmonies its efforts in the fight against
the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons. The experts
gathered here have the onerous tasks to come up with key recommendations
to combat
illicit trafficking of arms. It behoves them to take into account the
commitment outlined in the Bamako declaration on a common African position
on the illicit
proliferation and trafficking of small ad light weapons.
It is indeed noteworthy that the Bamako declaration
has direct and coordinated input from the Great
Lakes and the Horn of Africa sub-region through
the Nairobi declaration. This being the first
sub-regional conference since the UN programme
for action of 2001. You have yet another opportunity
to provide an example for other regions in
terms of setting the standards for international
consensus
as well the case with the Nairobi declaration.
Distinguished guests,
As the country mandated with the task of coordinating the implementation
of the Nairobi declaration we are indeed encouraged that most of the countries
represented here have made progress toward the establishment of full fledged
national focal points. Kenya on her part has established its focal point
and is in the process of putting in place a full fledged secretariat to
facilitate its work.
The National Focal Point is one of the key
structures that should form the main focus
of implementation
of the programme of action. It is therefore
gratifying to note that some of the National
Focal Points
have gone a step further and developed a comprehensive
national action plan to tackle the illicit
small arms problem. The need to enhance coordination
of the National Focal Points in this process
cannot
be overemphasized.
I therefore hope you will come up with mechanisms of enhancing such coordination.
The Mechanism of implementing and sustaining a comprehensive strategy for combating illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons will undoubtedly require strengthening of border controls, sharing of information and harmonization of legal regimes. In this regard it is necessary to ensure the involvement of relevant UN agencies and civil society as an integral part of the concerted efforts of the region.
It is only through such collaborative mechanisms that the sub region can prevent and reduce the problem of illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
Allow me to take this opportunity to extend
sincere gratitude to our development partners
such as Saferworld, SaferAfrica, Security Research
and Information Centre (SRIC), UNDP and the
Department of International Development (DFID)
that have continually
supported us in this initiative. We look forward
to further support particularly in enhancing
the capacity of Nairobi secretariat to coordinate
the implementation of the Agenda for action.
To conclude, distinguished experts it must be emphasized that durable
peace and stability cannot be achieved in the region unless effectively
prevent combat and eradicated the illicit trafficking and trade in small
arms. Indeed the sustainable development and prosperity of the region will
ultimately depend on the maintenance of the durable peace and tranquillity.
With these few remarks, I wish you fruitful deliberation while remaining optimistic that the output to be presented before the ministers will be reflective of your expertise and concern for peace and stability in the region.
Thank you.
home
search