ECOWAS Press Release No. 26/1999 Towards the implementation of the Moratorium 24 April 1999 The ECOWAS Ministers of Foreign Affairs, meeting in Bamako on 24 and 25 March 1999, focused attention on the implementation of a moratorium on the importation, exportation and manufacture of light weapons. The meeting, organised jointly with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), was declared open by the President of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konaré. Adopted in Abuja on 31st October, 1998 by the Heads of State and Government at the 21st Summit, the moratorium is aimed at putting a stop to the importation, exportation and manufacture of light weapons in West Africa over an initial period of three years. Although the uncontrolled accumulation and proliferation of light weapons are not the origin of on-going wars, they greatly fuel them and other sources of tension. Available in large quantities, relatively cheap and easy to handle, small arms have become the arms of choice used in majority of the current conflicts. It is estimated that the quantity of weapons in circulation in the sub-region is approximately 15 million, or one weapon to 25 inhabitants. Moreover, what is deplorable is that 80% of the victims of such arms are civilians, most of them women and children. Apart from the loss of human lives, the political and socio-economic repercussions are numerous: political instability, floods of refugees and displaced persons, destruction of infrastructures, emergence of child soldiers, cross border terrorism, banditry in urban centres, etc... There can be no peace, stability and development in such an environment characterised by tensions. The emergence of the "security first" approach to development therefore comes as no surprise. Development partners are increasingly opting for a strategy that embodies security, conflict prevention and sustained development. For instance, the millions of dollars invested over the last 20 years as development aide in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau, to cite only West Africa, have been annihilated by civil wars and inter-State conflicts. By adopting in Abuja the moratorium on the importation, exportation and manufacture of light weapons, ECOWAS Member States have demonstrated their resolve to work for peace first. In Bamako, the meeting explored practical ways and means of implementing the provisions of the moratorium, especially under the Programme for the Co-ordination and Assistance for Security and Development (PCASED). To this end, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs approved a plan of action comprising the following nine priority areas: development of a peace culture, training of the armed and security forces, enhancement of weapons controls at border posts, establishment of a database, collection and destruction of surplus weapons, facilitating dialogue with arms producers and suppliers, harmonisation of national legislations and administrative procedures, mobilisation of resources for PCASED activities and enlarging membership of the moratorium. They also decided to submit to the Heads of State for adoption, a code of conduct for the implementation of the moratorium. One repercussion of the proliferation of light weapons is the use of children as soldiers. These weapons are easy to handle as a result of technological advancement and accessible to every one. In Africa, thousands of children aged 10 to 15 have been conscripted to participate in conflicts that undermine our continent. Aware of the trauma experienced by child soldiers and the serious consequences for themselves, their families and their nations, the Ministers adopted a declaration in which they strongly condemn any enrolment of children into combatant groups. They called on ECOWAS Member States to take all necessary measures to dismantle all groups using children as child soldiers. The importance of the role to be played by the civil society and women's associations in the fight against light weapons proliferation was stressed. The civil society, which was represented at the meeting, pledged its support for the implementation of the moratorium. It intends to work hand in hand with Member States to establish a peace culture, search for and collect arms, and disarm combatants