The Africa Center held the “Enhancing Capacity for Tackling Small Arms and Light Weapons Illicit Proliferation in Southern Africa” workshop in Windhoek, Namibia, during Sept. 28-Oct. 2.
The workshop brought together about 50 mid- to senior-level civilian security and military officers from across Southern Africa, international experts, and European and U.S. government officials. They met to identify practical measures for strengthening national and sub-regional capacity with assistance from the international community to address the various security challenges posed by the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW).
Guy Lamb, keynote speaker at the workshop and Head of the Arms Management Program, Institute for Security Studies, in Pretoria/Tshwane, South Africa, highlighted Southern Africa’s unique history of proliferation and brokering of SALW. He explained that 10 years ago civil wars and political unrest plagued the region resulting in the establishment of brokering bases throughout the region. Loose firearm controls and a lack of regional protocols to control SALW contributed to their further proliferation and increasing rates of violent crime.
In response to the proliferation, Lamb said national governments, regional bodies and international organizations mobilized to amend regulations and adopt stricter regulations for the control of the weapons, the most notable being the UN’s 2000 “Fowler Report” and the 2004 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Firearms Control Protocol. He commended SADC and the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization for engaging in bilateral and multilateral efforts aimed at reducing proliferation and increasing controls on a regional level.
Lamb noted that current challenges remain to tackling SALW illicit proliferation in Southern Africa. Noting that personal perceptions of insecurity, subsistence, cultural aspects and criminality remain major drivers for the demand of SALW in Southern Africa, he also highlighted the management of stockpiled ammunition and the need for new policies and strategies to target the root causes of SALW illicit proliferation in the region. Lamb acknowledged the progress and positive changes that have been achieved in tackling these weapons and concluded by calling for continued efforts to tackling their illicit proliferation in Southern Africa.
The illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons remains a pressing security challenge in Southern Africa. Not only have these weapons prolonged several violent conflicts, their uncontrolled spread within the sub-region also poses a grave danger to domestic and regional security and to long-term stability and development. It is a multi-dimensional problem that is deeply intertwined with other broader security issues and has implications for development.
The Africa Center is conducting a series of five sub-regional workshops following the All-Africa seminar on Small Arms and Light Weapons held in Uganda in 2004. The Africa Center hosted a West Africa sub-regional workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in 2006. Another workshop for the Great Lakes Region and East Africa was held in Kampala, Uganda, in 2008. The Windhoek meeting is the third in the series with two more sub-regional workshops planned.
