Communiqué of the Civil Society Consultation on the review of the ECOWAS Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Small Arms and Light Weapons in West Africa

We, the participants, from civil society organizations working on small arms issues in the West African sub-region, participating in the civil society consultation on the review of the ECOWAS moratorium held in Dakar Senegal on the 27 January 2003, under the auspices of the Centre for Democracy & Development (CDD) and the West African Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA).

Gravely concerned that the global illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, and the availability of these instruments of violence in large numbers and outside the formal security structures, has exacerbated the cycle of armed conflicts, death and instability in the ECOWAS sub-region in which civilian populations especially children, women, youths and elders are the major victims;

Recognising that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the ECOWAS sub region undermines good governance, and in so doing violates fundamental human rights, jeopardizes economic development, political stability, social justice and peace;

Concerned about the increasing complexity of the global flow in both licit and illicit small arms and its close linkages with organised crime including blood diamond running, child trafficking; drug trade and money laundering;

Reaffirming our understanding and commitment to the ECOWAS "protocol" on conflict prevention including the moratorium as a concrete and comprehensive regional initiative to come to grips with problems posed not only by uncontrolled flows of legal weapons but also with the environment in which illegal weapons become readily available and used;

Convinced that member states of ECOWAS bear the primary responsibility to create the political space that will facilitate the partnerships and synergies required for effective implementation of the moratorium;

Recognising the efforts of the ECOWAS Executive Secretariat and the programme of Coordination and Assistance for security and Development (PCASED) to improve the implementation of the Moratorium in particular by forging sustainable partnerships with civil society organisations;

Recognising the indispensable role of civil society in the implementation of the ECOWAS Moratorium and its Code of Conduct and associated measures; recognising the need to collaborate with other sub-regional initiatives in Africa;

Call on West African Governments to:

  • Enact a supplementary protocol on Small arms

  • Establish an effective, efficient and active small arms unit within ECOWAS Secretariat

  • Support and promote a more effective PCASED

  • Convert the ECOWAS moratorium into a permanent sub-regional convention, without prejudice to the proposed supplementary protocol

  • Introduce and sustain an awareness raising programme at the governmental level

  • Encourage and support civil society in their advocacy activities and programmes

  • Update and harmonize small arms legislation with a view to blocking national gaps and forging a regional legal framework

  • Establish, with a sense of urgency, a database of experts working on small arms issues

  • Reassess the location of the observation bureaux with a view to enhancing the viability and efficiency of an Early Warning and Early Response (EWER) mechanism.

For more information, please go to:
http://www.iansa.org/regions/wafrica/ecowas_dakar.htm


CDD homepage