Building Peace and Controlling Arms in West Africa

International Action Network on Small Arms Panel at the Hague Appeal for Peace
12 May 1999

The panel was sponsored by Centre for Democratic Empowerment (Liberia), Centre for Conflict Resolution (Ghana), International Alert (UK), Saferworld (UK), and Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers (Norway).

Lord Frank Judd of Portsea chaired the panel, beginning with a concise history of the initiative in West Africa which resulted this past 31 October in the agreement by all 16 ECOWAS heads of State to forgo small arms production, imports and exports for a three year period. This political commitment is being supported by a Program for Coordination and Assistance on Security and Development (PCASED)--a series of democratization/ governance, security sector reform, and development initiatives intended to alleviate the pressures for small arms proliferation and misuse in the region. Lord Judd noted that "the success of the moratorium depends on political will, which in turn requires civil society mobilization." The point of this workshop, he noted, is to help reinforce both.

Mahamoudou Diagouraga, government of Mali Commissioner in the North, descibed the war fought during the 1990s in the northern part of the country and the small arms proliferation there. Commissioner Diagouraga noted that the moratorium announcement amounts to a unanimous declaration of faith by governments in the region, and that PCASED has been elaborated to develop an administration and plan of action. He said that PCASED envisions action in nine areas:

He particularly stated support for the establishment of national commissions on light arms control, civil society engagement on the issue, the need to create a sense of responsibility among government officials, and encouraging support among the international community for the initiative.

Dr. Mariam Maiga, President of the Women's Movement for Safeguarding Peace and National Unity in Bamako, Mali is working to create societal support for the elimination of small arms. The women's movement is a coalition comprising 20 organizations from several different civil society groups. The group issued a declaration on small arms on 2 March 1999, and the President of Mali received representatives of the movement on 10 March. In addition, Dr. Maiga's coalition has organized a meeting of international and regional groups on the issue of light weapons control in Mali. The groups are currently putting together a plan of action and are looking for support and ideas.

Conmany Wesseh, Executive Director of the Centre for Democratic Empowerment in Monrovia, Liberia, said that seven years of warfare in his country has dedicated him to stopping war and "those things that facilitate violence." Among the later he included injustice, unemployment, weak economies, lack of basic necessities and the easy availability of weapons.

He cited a need to build a strong network of organizations committed to the reduction of small arms and a reduction of violence in the subregion. Toward this end, his organization has held several consultations on the issue, and by the end of June will help launch an "International Action Network of West Africa" which will feed into the global International Action Network on Small Arms launched a few days previously in the Hague. Mr. Wesseh said that as one of its goals his group is mounting a campaign to see that the weapons collected in Liberia as part of the peace process are destroyed.

He pointed out that talking about small arms is often considered subversive and is dangerous for many people in the region—a very serious business, requiring international support. He wants to see development support for those governments that live up to their arms moratorium commitment. He cited the active collaboration of some governments in the region and outside of the region with local illicit arms trafficking.

General Arnold Quainoo is a former commander ECOMOG forces who now runs the Center for Conflict Resolution in Accra, Ghana, established in 1995. Noting the recent past and on-going armed violence in the region, the General cited economic and environmental factors in the region as contributing to the outbreak of warfare. He warned of the very real possibility of the moratorium becoming "just words on paper," and he said that active civil society involvement is necessary to ensure that that does not happen.

He noted the enduring and influential roles of the military in the region, and he called on national militaries to "put their own house in order." Citing the flow of arms from militaries to criminals in West African states, he called for the armies to establish stricter regulations on procurement, storage, and use of weapons supplied to them. He also called on state militaries to keep data on the make, model, and quantity of all weapons in national inventories, as well as for clear and strict regulations for handling weaponry seized or captured by the military. Finally, he cited a need for research on sources and quantities of weapons into the region, and for reform of the security sector toward "tight, small, disciplined forces." "The militaries in West Africa have been used to often to abuse their populations," Gen. Quainoo said, and this has lead to a lack of trust. He called on all states in the region to transition into full democracy.

The final speaker was Dominiek Dolphen, Advisor to Reginald Moreels, Belgian Minister for Development Cooperation. Mr. Dolphen focused on the role of the international community. He noted that donor nations can only cooperate with countries that have the political will to do something about the problem of small arms proliferation. Southern Africa and West Africa are the two areas that currently exhibit the necessary political will. For States in the South, a willingness to get rid of excess weapons capacity is key, he said.

 

In terms of what Belgium is doing to be helpful--and what States from the North can do--he cited several things, including financial support for the moratorium initiative. In addition, the Belgian government is going into the north of Mali, where the conflict started, and linking up development projects with disarmament requirements. His ministry has started a micro-development program in three small villages, and they are working to get the issue of small arms control on the agenda of the World Bank--perhaps as a debt swap for arms destruction initiative. In addition, his government is studying gun buyback programs and in particular the idea of community development for guns.

Exporting States of the North also have to stop the influx of new weapons into regions of tension. Mr. Dolphen announced that Belgium has decided not to approve any export licenses to states in the West African region since 1 November 1998--when the moratorium entered into force.

Several people from West Africa were present, and they raised many questions and made many statements from the floor. Unfortunately, the panel ran short on time, but it provided an excellent opportunity for networking by concerned individuals and groups from West Africa.