New Era

WINDHOEK - Military and security experts from across Southern Africa, the USA and Europe are meeting in Windhoek to identify practical measures that will help address problems caused by the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW).

The proliferation of SALW poses a serious security challenge, as not only do the they prolong the duration of armed conflict but also threaten long term stability and development in Southern Africa.

The Enhancing Capacity for Tackling Small Arms and Light Weapons Proliferation in Southern Africa workshop is among a series of five sub-regional workshops that are being held following the all-Africa seminar on SALW held in Uganda five years ago.

The meeting is expected to identify measures of strengthening national and sub-regional capacity to address security challenges arising from the proliferation of SALW.

Although the problem has changed since the 1990s, as some countries like South Africa have recorded a reduction in firearm deaths, a lot more still needs to be done.

SADC Secretariat's Senior Strategic Analyst for the Directorate of Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, Natangwe Angula, said although SADC countries have political will to address the problem, reasons behind people acquiring guns should be looked into.

"However, controlling the supply and reducing the availability of weapons is not enough - we need to do more to address the factors that lead people to acquire small arms and light weapons," said Angula during the opening of the worskhop.

He said structural problems that underpin insecurity and gun violence should be addressed which in turn would require the integration of small arms reduction measures into countries' development programmes.

Also speaking during the opening of the five-day meeting which ends Friday (October 2) Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy, Matt Harrington, said curbing the supply and demand of small arms and light weapons would contribute to development, respect for human rights and peace and security in countries and regions.

He said small arms and light weapons have undermined efforts at economic development, governance and democratisation, while their widespread availability have also contributed to violations of human rights.

"And they have helped create a culture of violence that tears at the social fabric of many countries in Africa," he added.

In the keynote address, the Programme Head: Arms Management at the Institute for Security Studies Sir Guy Lamb said although SADC has seen the end of armed conflict in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, stronger national policy and legislation and also the coming into being of the SADC forearm protocol around 1999, stockpiles of conventional ammunition remains a danger to people.

"Ammunition stockpiles can blow up and people and their property can be destroyed," he said urging the sub-region to address the problem.

He said the period before 1999 was characterised by the armed conflict in the two countries, which also caused the proliferation of SALW, high levels of firearm crime and violence and weapon caches in Mozambique and Angola.

Lamb said there was also weak firearm control policy and legislation. Then there was no regional SALW protocol.

The United Nations Development Programme estimates that 740 000 people die every year as a result of violence associated with armed conflicts and large and small scale criminal violence, with most of the deaths (490 000) occurring in non-conflict settings.

Armed violence in non-conflict states cost around US$160 billion worldwide, an amount that UNDP says is more than official development assistance.

The African Center for Strategic Studies and the American Embassy have organised the workshop.

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