Background

Countries in Eastern and Southern Africa are gravely affected by the proliferation and illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons. The availability and spread of weapons is one of the main factors fuelling conflict, crime, human rights abuses and under-development in the region. However, there has been little detailed analysis done at the national level to assess the exact nature and extent of the small arms problem in specific countries, to develop comprehensive strategies to address the problem on the national and sub-regional level, and to capacitate key governmental and civil society participants to engage to fully implement the regional and international agreements that have been developed.

There is now a much greater awareness of the devastating impact that the uncontrolled proliferation of small arms can have on societies and concerted efforts have been made by many actors - both governmental and non-governmental - to address the problems associated with small arms misuse. The primary focus of these efforts has been on creating awareness of the problems related to small arms proliferation, agreeing norms for the control and management of small arms and building the political will to take effective action on these key issues. The results of these efforts have been considerable and there are now a number of international, regional and sub-regional small arms agreements in place.

For the states of Southern and Eastern Africa the key international and regional small arms agreements are:

the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects;
the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime;
the Bamako Declaration on an African Common Position on the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons;
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; and
the Southern African Development Community Protocol on the Control of Firearms, Ammunition and Other Related Materials in the Region of the Community.

These agreements set out requirements across a broad range of areas relating to the control of small arms including:

firearms legislation;
the establishment of national and regional agencies and points of contact;
marking, tracing and recording keeping;
control of the import, export, transfer and transit of small arms;
brokering;
destruction and disposal;
stockpile management;
public awareness raising;
information sharing;
demobilisation and re-integration of former combatants; and
enhancing operational capacity of law enforcement agencies.

Progress has been made at the regional level in implementing these regional and international agreements. In the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa, the Nairobi Secretariat has been established as the regional co-ordination agency for the implementation of the Nairobi Declaration. The Secretariat has five full-time members of staff which are working on activating the Co-ordinated Agenda for Action and accompanying Implementation Plan, that were agreed in November 2001, and on the revised implementation work-plan and programme concluded at the First Ministerial Review Conference of the Nairobi Declaration in August 2002. In Southern Africa, the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (SARPCCO), which has been sanctioned as the implementing agency for small arms in the region, developed an Operational Implementation Programme for the SADC Firearms Protocol in August 2002.

While the regional and international agreements call for action to be taken at the international and regional levels their primary focus is on the national level. Indeed, the UN Programme of Action specifically recognises that it is the primary responsibility of national governments to control small arms. Countries in Southern and Eastern Africa have begun to act, with many states in both regions establishing National Focal Points (NFPs), or equivalent national co-ordination bodies for small arms issues. However, while these NFPs have been established, in many cases they have yet to become fully operational and in very few countries have comprehensive action plans been developed or implemented.

Such NAPs are a specific requirement of the Bamako Declaration:

2 (viii)

3 A (iv)

the responsible management of licit arms

3 A (viii)

For efforts at the national level to be truly effective it is crucial that a comprehensive approach is taken and this is recognised by many of the regional and international agreements. For instance, the Coordinated Agenda for Action of the Nairobi Declaration makes provision for ensuring 'a sustainable solution to the problem through the pursuit of a long term co-ordinated and concerted effort.¹ Further it calls on State Parties to 'develop, implement and sustain a comprehensive strategy to combat the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons, taking into account the linkages between arms proliferation and all aspects of human security and the long term objective of obtaining peace, stability and development in the region.²

The most pressing priority is to ensure the effective implementation of these commitments. One of the primary obstacles to this is the lack of detailed knowledge of the problem on a national level. This lack of concrete information and detailed analysis has also hindered the ability of governments in Eastern and Southern Africa to contribute to the different sub-regional processes in a meaningful way.

Having been closely involved in the sub-regional processes in both Southern and Eastern Africa, SaferAfrica and Saferworld recognised the importance of accurately identifying the nature and extent of the small arms problem and the measures needed to address it. We developed a methodology to nationally map the small arms problem in countries in these sub-regions and to assist the governments to create and implement a NAP based on the results of such a national mapping or assessment. A number of key factors form the central principles of the mapping approach.

Notes

Paragraph 1.1 Co-ordinated Agenda for Action on the Problem on the Problem of the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa

Paragraph 2.2 Co-ordinated Agenda for Action on the Problem of the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa

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