| Global Week of Action Against Small Arms 2006 - action in West Africa
Benin:
University students support Control Arms
Amnesty Benin held a conference amongst students and teachers at the National University of Benin in Cotonou to raise awareness on the campaign and gather new faces for the Million Faces petition.
 Press conference
Amnesty International Benin held a press conference on 27 May in the capital, Porto-Novo, on the global spread of small arms and the need for an Arms Trade Treaty. The press conference was attended by a representative of the OUEME prefect and the mayor of Porto-Novo.
Cameroon:
Launch of 'Voices of Peace' magazine
Yaah Gladys and Noelle Wright (Cultural Affairs Specialist and Cultural Affairs Officer, US Embassy, Cameroon) attended the launch of 'Voices of Peace' on 6 July at Djeuga Palace Hotel in Yaounde. The new magazine is produced by Cameroon Youth and Students Voices for Peace (CAMYOSFOP).
Press Conference
The Government should support the IANSA positions at the UN Small Arms Review Conference, urged campaigners at a press conference on 23 May.
Regional workshop on reducing gun violence
A regional Central African small arms workshop was held in Doula by the National Justice and Peace Service of the Episcopalian Conference of Cameroon. Participants from Chad, Cameroon, the DRC, and Gabon attended. The Ecumenical Service for Peace gave a presentation on a campaign against toy weapons, revolvers, and violent films.
 Media advocacy
Youths campaign against illicit sale of arms
Post
18 May 2006
Cameroonian youths marching for peace
Entrepreneur (Yaounde)
30 May 2006
Youth march against small arms
Young people marched against guns in Yaounde, on 19 May. Organised by Cameroon Youth & Students Forum for Peace (CAMYOSFOP)
Côte d’Ivoire
A wide range of activities
In Côte d’Ivoire, activists from different strands of civil society worked together to publicise the Global Week of Action. Week of Action activities included a public conference, testimony gathering, information stands, a cyber campaign, and a press conference. The coalition issued a press release which can be read here.
Click here to read more about these activities in French.
It also received media coverage in the newspaper Fraternité Matin
Fraternité Matin
Des ONG luttent contre leur prolifération
Dimanche 11 Juin 2006
Gambia
Million Faces photo collection
Youth organisations and the National Youth Council collected photos for the Million Faces Petition on 22 May, in collaboration with the West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP). The launch received national media coverage:
Anti-arms campaign kicks-off
Daily Observer (Banjul), 23 May
Ghana:
National forum on small arms
Campaigners attended the Ghana National Strategic Planning Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons in Accra.
Media advocacy
Say no to guns!
Accra Mail, 31 May
Campaign Against Proliferation of Firearms
Accra Mail, 5 June
Ghana: Global Week of Action to control small arms
Unique FM, 5 June 2006
Campaign Against Proliferation of Fire Arms
Accra Mail, 1 June 2006
Liberia
Launch media coverage
The launch of the Week of Action, organised by UNDP – Liberia and the Liberia Action Network on Small Arms (LANSA) on 22 May, received national media coverage:
Guns, Ammunition, Others Collected In 3 Counties
Analyst (Monrovia), 23 May
Seminar
A seminar to educate the public about the importance of disarmament was organised on 23 May by Liberia Action Network on Small Arms (LANSA) and UNDP-Liberia as part of the Global Week of Action.
Click here to read the media report.
Mali
Press conference
A well-attended press conference opened the Week of Action on 22 May, organised by Amnesty International- Mali. Media coverage included several newspapers, including Les Echos, Le Patriot and Le Soir de Bamako. On 23 - 25 May, they produced a series of radio programmes, and a television advertisement will be aired on 26 May.
Prime Minister Supports the Million Faces Petition as the Control Arms Committee Swings into Action
There were a diverse range of activities, including a rap concert, photo exhibition, television and radio programmes, organised by the Mali Control Arms Committee. On 29 May, the Control Arms Committee presented a petition on arms control to the National Assembly’s Security and Defence Committee Commission and the national Million Faces Petition to the Prime Minister, who declared his support for the Petition. The Committee’s work received a large degree of media coverage, including articles in newspapers such as Les echos. Click here to read more information in French.
Nigeria:
Experts complete ECOWAS Draft Convention on Small Arms
Experts from Africa, Europe and the United States endorsed the draft Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons on 15 March 2006.The Draft Convention is expected to be adopted formally in June 2006.
Media advocacy
SSS Raises Alarm over Arms Proliferation
This Day, 28 May
Senegal
Awareness-raising events
An awareness-raising event on small arms control was organised on 21 May by a coalition of IANSA members in Senegal, including MALAO and Oxfam USA. Between 22-24 May, a Control Arms workshop was convened with representatives from the Senegalese National Commission on strengthening regional agreements on arms transfers in the region. To read the press release of the West African Movement against Small Arms (MALAO), click here.
Sierra Leone
Radio discussion
There is an urgent need to need reduce the demand for small arms in the country, urged the Sierra Leone Action network on Small Arms (SLANSA) during a radio discussion on 23 May.
Media advocacy
The government must act at the UN to stop the flood of guns, urged the Sierra Leone Action network on Small Arms (SLANSA).
Sierra Leone: One Thousand People Die Everyday
Freetown Standard Times, 31 May
Togo
National workshop
Parliamentarians were among the attendees of “Togo before the Control of the Circulation Small Arms”, a national workshop on small arms, 22-23 May at the Hôtel Savoie in Lomé. The workshop was organised by civil society, including RENAAL-Togo, the national action network on small arms, in partnership with the National Commission against the Circulation, the Proliferation and the Illicit Traffic of Small Arms and with the technical assistance of the United Nations Centre for Disarmament and Peace in Africa (UNCDPA) Other attendees included members of the Defense and Security Commission (DSC) and representatives from Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security, members of the CNLCPAL and Civil Society Actors from the National Action Network on Small Arms and the Developing Peace (NANSADP). The event was covered by six broadcasting media and five newspapers.
Colonel Toyi Assiah during the opening of the National Workshop organised in cooperation with Oxfam GB, IANSA and Amnesty International
After the National Workshop
Following the national workshop on small arms, the National Assembly summoned the Minister of Security to address the increase in armed violence in the country and take measures curb it. In his reply, the Minister acknowledged that the unregulated circulation of small arms is one of the primary causes of this violence and gave the position of the Togolese government on the reform of the national legislation, the adoption of the ECOWAS Convention and the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). To read the following 9 June 2006 newspaper article in Golfe Info, email
golfe_info@yahoo.fr.
On 29 May, an article appeared in issue 158 of the Forum de la Semaine [This Week’s Forum]:"Combattre l'épidémie mondiale des Armes légères" (p. 6).
Signature of ECOWAS Convention
The Togolese Government signed the ECOWAS Convention on June 15 in Abuja, Nigeria. RENAAL-TOGO sent a letter addressed to the Prime Minister to congratulate the government of its new commitment.
Click here to view this letter in French
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