1. In November 1996, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), the United Nations Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized in collaboration with the Government of Mali an international conference entitled: "Conflict Prevention, Disarmament and Development in West Africa". The Conference adopted, inter alia, the Mali proposal calling for interested African States to declare a moratorium on "import, export, and manufacture of light weapons", and recommended that sensitization activities with concerned States in the region and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) be carried out with a view to deepening the understanding of and support for the proposal. The Conference also recommended that a dialogue consolidate the future moratorium regime with the arms manufacturing and supplier States under the Wassenaar Arrangement.

2. In fulfilment of those recommendations, the OAU Secretariat was briefed on the proposal for the moratorium which it viewed not just as a reinforcing element but also as an important precursor and test case for the OAU Early Warning System under planning. Furthermore, members of the Secretariat of the Conference held discussions with Friends of the Chair of the Wassenaar Arrangement in Vienna to inform them on the moratorium proposal and the overall disarmament initiatives in West Africa, with a view to preparing the Wassenaar States to play a supporting role in the future implementation of the moratorium proposal. The Friends of the Chair commended West African States for this bold and novel approach to arms control in their region and pledged to bring these developments to the attention of the Secretariat of the Arrangement which was being established at that time.

3. In February 1997, in Tripoli, Libya, the Delegation of Mali to the OAU Council of Ministers with the technical support of the United Nations, organized briefing sessions on the moratorium proposal, in the sidelines of the OAU’s ministerial meeting, with a number of Delegations including, in particular, the following: Algeria, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone. The significance of those briefings, in which the OAU’s Secretary-General partici- pated, was to place the moratorium proposal at a higher political level, to sustain the disarmament and conflict prevention momentum created by the Bamako Conference, and to invite interested Governments to a ministerial consultation in Bamako on 26 March 1997. The objective of that consultation, which took place as scheduled, was to examine the political and technical aspects of the moratorium.

4. Representatives of the following governments took part in the ministerial consultation: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. The following participated as observers: representatives of the UN system, representatives of the OAU, the Secretary-General of the ANAD (Accord de Non-Agression et d’Assistance en Matière de Defense), a representative of the Chair of the Wassenaar Group, representatives of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), and the Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Keynote addresses were delivered by the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Vice-President of the Canadian International Development Agency (on behalf of the Minister for International Cooperation), and the Special Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Small Arms.

5. The Consultation adopted an outline document of the moratorium (see Annex I) and recommended, inter alia, two areas of action: 1) the pursuit of sensitization and information missions to increase the understanding of the technical and political conditions for the declaration of the moratorium, and, 2) the establishment of a mechanism called: Programme for Coordination and Assistance for Security and Development (PCASED).

6. Moreover, the Malian Presidential Delegation to the OAU Summit in Harare in June 1997, with the technical support of the United Nations, pursued sensitization of some presidential delegations. Such contacts permitted a deepening of the understanding of the proposed moratorium at the highest political level in a number of African countries beyond West Africa. But it should be noted that sensitization is still under way at all levels in view of the delicate and sensitive nature of the moratorium proposal.

7. Missions of sensitization to secure international support for PCASED have been organized and some are still being planned in a number of donor countries and institutions outside Africa, including the European Union with a view to augmenting political support and funding for the setting up and operation of PCASED. So far, responses in the countries visited by members of the secretariat of the Conference and senior officials of the Government of Mali have been very encouraging, demonstrating increasing support for security requirements to be fully integrated into development cooperation policies of donor countries in the context of peace-building and conflict prevention in developing countries. In this connection, the establishment of PCASED is also a translation into concrete action of one of the key proposals made at the High-level Consultation on Post-conflict Peace-building in West Africa organized in October 1996 with the financial assistance of the Government of the Netherlands under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General and chaired jointly by the Administrator of UNDP and the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. That Consultation which brought together the sixteen Member States of ECOWAS and more than twenty representatives of major donor Governments and Institutions in West Africa, expressed the need for a mechanism to coordinate Member States’ policies and programmes that cut across developmental and political problems.

8. PCASED will be an initial five-year technical programme established and operated by UNDP to backstop the moratorium regime and related practical development and security-related activities, including assistance, where possible, in mopping up surplus weapons in interested countries that had been affected by conflict. It would become fully operational as soon as one or more Governments would have declared the moratorium. However, a technical secretariat would be established in advance to assist interested Governments to fully understand the technical and political aspects of the proposal and thus facilitate a political decision for the declaration of the moratorium.

9. The Programme would assist in implementing the relevant recommendations of the United Nation’s Secretary-General’s Advisory Mission on the Proliferation of Light Weapons in the Sahel-Sahara subregion as well as backstop, as appropriate, the implementation of the moratorium, including the coordination and operation of the various activities which will take place during the three-year life span of the moratorium and beyond. Such activities would include assistance in:

v coordinating the efforts of Member States in matters of security, peace and disarmament;

v providing technical assistance for the implementation and harmonization of Member States’ policies in disarmament and security matters;

v supporting the efforts of the Member States in the setting up and revitalization of the national commissions in charge of the fight against the proliferation of light weapons;

v promoting the establishment and functioning of a database on the flow of light weapons in the region;

v providing technical support for efforts to sensitize new Member States to declare the moratorium;

v supporting the efforts of the Member States in view of updating and harmonizing their national legislation relating to the bearing, the use and the production of light weapons;

v supporting efforts for the establishment and functioning of a subregional register on light weapons;

v providing technical support to Member States for border controls in connection with light weapons;

v organizing training programmes for law and order forces in order to improve efficiency and provide them with modern techniques and skills in their field.

10. The present document outlines the structure and cost of the Programme with the aim of galvanizing support for its establishment.

11. The Programme would be composed of the following units: backstopping of the moratorium; maintenance of the database, the arms register and research; conference service and training and advisory programmes; the secretariat and publication unit, and administration.

12. This unit shall liaise with Member States on questions relating to the moratorium. It shall provide technical and secretarial assistance to sensitization and information missions and activities with a view to increasing and improving participation in the moratorium. It shall also provide legal and political advice on such issues as may be required to enhance Member States’ cooperation and confidence-building measures in the region. It shall prepare the conference of ministers for the evaluation of the moratorium after the three-year period as agreed upon by the ministerial consultation of 26 March 1997.

13. The principal function of this unit shall be to expedite matters relating to the moratorium and formulate policy proposals on effective ways and means of also addressing the illicit flow of arms in the region.

14. A database shall be created to collect and store information on the flow of small arms in the region and document, electronically, the type and number of crimes involving the use of this category of weapons. The unit shall be charged with the responsibility of operating an arms register on licit weapons similar to the one maintained by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, but enlarged to include items such as small arms and force levels as agreed upon by the Member States during the ministerial consultation of 26 March 1997.

15. Member States shall be requested to forward to the unit on a regular annual basis, information on their holdings and on purchases, which are not covered by the moratorium. It should be made clear that under the moratorium regime, dispensation for arms import can be granted, on request, to a Member State that faces serious security difficulties. More information on this provision is contained in Annex I to this document.

16. The monitoring of the flow of small arms through the database can be an effective early warning system since an increased flow of arms from one area to another often help to detect where tension and violence is building up. On the other hand, an arm register, which takes account of the security and defence realities of the countries concerned, can significantly contribute to promoting confidence and trust in the neighbourhood.

17. Statistics and other defence and security data are not always easily available in Africa, largely because of lack of research institutions and the long-standing ‘secrecy’ that has surrounded even basic defence and security issues. The far-reaching political discussions on the moratorium proposal and the auspicious democratic opening of many States in the region now contribute to the vulgarization of these issues. PCASED would seize the opportunity of its comparative advantage of being an emanation of the political will of the interested Governments to sustain the vulgarization of the issues through the establishment of a sound research base within this unit. In this connection, the unit shall cooperate on a technical basis with similar and well-known institutions within and outside Africa such as the Institute Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), etc. It shall undertake periodic publications of research results. The research capacity shall be enhanced by the establishment and maintenance of a network with individual researchers and relevant institutions.

18. This unit shall service conferences on specific issues pertaining to small arms, and organize training programmes for law and order forces as part of capacity-building measures to enhance the effectiveness of the police and other civil forces that are involved in security maintenance and border control.

19. The unit shall also provide advisory services for the updating and harmonization of national legislation on the bearing of small arms. Technical advice on weapons buy-back, and the study of other methods of arms collection programmes, and disposal of surplus weapons particularly in concerned countries that had been affected by armed conflict, as was the case in Mali in March 1996, shall form part of the responsibility of the unit.

20. The Secretariat shall coordinate the work of the units and shall publish an annual bulletin on the work of PCASED for the information of Member States and the public.

21. The Administration Unit shall ensure the day-to-day administrative, personnel and budgetary functioning of the Programme.

22. The Programme would maintain close contacts with the national commissions for the control and collection of small arms which already exist in a number of countries in the region following the recommendation of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Mission mentioned above. It would provide advisory and, when possible, technical support to those commissions and serve as clearing-house for the sharing of various national experiences and programmes in Africa.

23. PCASED shall be headed by a senior official as Director. The units above shall be headed by officers at an appropriate level in accordance with United Nations staffing practices. Support staff for secretarial and clerical functions shall be recruited. Consultants shall be recruited depending on the volume of work. Internship for students would be encouraged, as appropriate.

24. Equipment shall include: 6 computers, 3 fax machines, telephone sets, 2 photocopiers, 2 cars, office desks and chairs, and regular supply material. Arrangements shall be made to obtain, at no cost to PCASED, office space from the host Government.

25. PCASED will be an initial five-year technical programme sponsored by UNDP, the DPA and UNIDIR. Its initial life span will comprise the three years of the moratorium and an additional two years to consolidate the post-moratorium regime. It shall be located in a Member State of the moratorium.

26. A number of resource persons with personal or institutional interest in the disarmament and development initiatives in West Africa have played a key role in both informal and official discussions that have led to sustaining the political will of Governments to pursue the implementation of the moratorium proposal which, in political terms, truly constitutes a ground-breaking evolution in recent arms control proposals in Africa. They have also contributed to the governmental consultations in designing the technical framework for the moratorium regime as well as assisting in mobilizing necessary resources for the implementation of PCASED.

27. To maximize the effectiveness of PCASED, an advisory group constituted of about ten (10) such resource persons shall be set up. The purpose of the Advisory Group shall be to provide technical and political advice to PCASED on such issues as may be deemed necessary by the Director. The Group would offer comments and observations on the programme of work of PCASED. Persons serving in the Group shall be drawn from within and outside Africa in their individual capacity. The Group may meet at least at the end of each activities year to help in the assessment of that year’s activities and offer suggestions on the coming one.

28. It is obvious that the necessary funds, which will ensure the optimum operation of PCASED, will not be gotten at one stroke. In this regard, installation, including staffing and programming will be progressive, beginning in January 1998 when the Secretariat and the Administrative Units will be put in place to ensure maximum sensitization of interested governments in the region on the technical and political aspects of the moratorium, and to arrange the logistics involved in the structural setting up and equipment of the entire mechanism. It is expected that all the units would become fully operational during the second half of 1998.

29. With regard to programmes and activities, a small workshop of interested government representatives and other experts will be organized in March 1998 to draw up and define the short-term and long-term priority programme of action on the basis of the elements contained in Chapter II above.

30. English and French shall be the main working languages of PCASED.

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