Firearms have particularly fuelled
overlapping and uncontained conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia
and most recently Cote D’Ivoire, as well as non-conflict
related crime and violence. Small arms remain the primary weapons
of intra- and inter-communal feuds, local wars, armed insurrections,
armed rebel activities and terrorism throughout the region.
As a result of the armed conflict in the region,
hundreds if not thousands have already been killed, hundreds
of thousands displaced or made refugees, and an immeasurable
amount of property destroyed. In addition, small arms have been
used to grossly violate human rights, to facilitate the practice
of bad governance, to subvert constitutions, to carry out coup
d’états and to create and maintain a general state
of fear, insecurity and instability.
IANSA's partners in West Africa, under the banner
of the West African Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA), are
working with governments and other NGOs to curb the proliferation
of small arms in the region through:
- Supporting the implementation and evaluation
of the ECOWAS moratorium on the import, export and manufacture
of small arms and light weapons (see below)
- Engaging in weapons collection and destruction
programs throughout the region
- Assisting in the disarming, demobilizing
and re-integrating of ex-combatants
- Educating public officials, journalists and
the public about the extent of the small arms crisis in the
region and measures to curb proliferation
About WAANSA
Established in May 2002 in Accra, Ghana, the
West Africa Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA) is a network
of more than 50 organizations from Benin, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau,
Ivory Coast, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone
and Togo working to prevent the proliferation of small arms in
the region. WAANSA serves as a forum for the exchange of information,
views, experiences and strategies in combating the proliferation
of small arms and light weapons in West Africa; works for the
reduction of demand for small arms and light weapons in the region;
and provides solidarity to all those who work on small arms issues.
WAANSA network members include national civil
society organisations, networks or coalitions of civil society
organisations; experts, civil and political leaders, popular
and outstanding figures, and others.
Contact information:
West African Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA)
PO Box CT 4317, Cantonments
Accra, Ghana
Tel: +233 21 770 563
Fax: +233 21 811 322
Chairman: Baffour Amoa
waansa15@yahoo.co.uk
View the WAANSA founding
document here
Small Arms Survey: Africa
Other organizations in the region:
West
African Network for Peace Building
Consultation
on Ecumenical Action on Small Arms in West Africa (CEASAWA)
UNIDIR
Peace-building and Practical Disarmament in West Africa Page
News stories and resources:
Regional Control Arms Programme Update: West Africa
December 2006
Security
Council Calls For West African Cooperation To Curb Small Arms
Trafficking
18 March 2003
ECOWAS Summit, Dakar,
Senegal
ECOWAS Moratorium History
and News
EU
Troika meeting with ECOWAS on the Ivory Coast, Liberia, economic
integration and conflict prevention
29 November 2002
Book
On Arms Proliferation in West Africa for Launch
21 November 2002
Nigeria’s
War On Cross Border Crime
31 October 2002
UN
Urges West African Arms Ban
3 July 2002
Weapons
Recycling Big in West Africa
6 May 2002
PBS
Gunrunning in Sierra Leone Series
May 2002
Gun Smuggling in the Niger Delta
World Press Review
23 June 2001
Bamako
Declaration on an African Common Position on the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation
and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons
30 November 2000
UN
DDA Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms African Regional Workshop
(Togo)
2-4 August 1999
UN
Press Statement on Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms African
Regional Workshop (Togo)
30 July 1999
Bamako Declaration on the African Common Position on the Illicit Proliferation,
Circulation, and Trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons |
