This blog post was published as part of the Global Partnership on Small Arms project, which was managed by the Small Arms Survey and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

The Global Partnership on Small Arms was a platform where stakeholders engaged in reducing or preventing illicit arms trafficking were able to interact; exchange information, experience, and knowledge; and give feedback to further their shared goals.

This blog post was published as part of the Global Partnership on Small Arms project, which was managed by the Small Arms Survey and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

The Global Partnership on Small Arms was a platform where stakeholders engaged in reducing or preventing illicit arms trafficking were able to interact; exchange information, experience, and knowledge; and give feedback to further their shared goals.

'Though the causes and factors driving conflicts in the [...] SADC region have varied over the past 20 years, illicit firearms and ammunition have continued to remain a common feature. In fact, the region suffers of one of the highest rates of violent deaths by firearms per 100,000 population in the world. To tackle these issues, the SADC member states adopted the Protocol on the Control of Firearms, Ammunition, and other Related Materials (the SADC Firearms Protocol).

'As the devastating health and economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to be felt around the world, the impact of the crisis on peace and security in Africa and more specifically on the African Union’s (AU) Silencing the guns initiative, is beginning to emerge.

'Discussions on new dynamics and approaches to consider at the multilateral and national levels for tackling the illicit small arms trade should unfold in parallel as new challenges emerge. This blog post gives an overview of the main points raised during the high-level panel in the eleventh session of the Small Arms Survey 2020 online forum ‘Taking stock of action on the illicit small arms trade’.

National Action Plans (NAPs) are critical for systematically and effectively implementing, coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating small arms control measures within states. NAPs clearly elaborate national priorities and facilitate coordination between national government agencies and key stakeholders, as well as with external partners and donors. The fifth panel of the Small Arms Survey 2020 online forum ‘Taking stock of action on the illicit small arms trade’ brought together actors from the national, regional, and international levels to share experiences from their work on NAPs.

'The League of Arab States (LAS), INTERPOL, the Small Arms Survey, and the World Customs Organization (WCO) — supported by the EU — are working together on a joint project to combat the illicit trade in, and proliferation of, small arms and light weapons in LAS Member States.

'Conventional arms and ammunition are at risk of diversion throughout their life cycle. Identifying and putting in place effective measures to prevent, detect, and respond to diversion is a priority for the small arms community. The second panel of the Small Arms Survey 2020 online forum ‘Taking stock of action on the illicit small arms trade’ focused on the issue of diversion, a key theme for this year’s sixth conference of states parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT CSP6) and next year’s seventh biennial meeting of the UN Programme of Action on small arms (PoA BMS7).

'Ukraine has a grenade problem. In recent years, thousands of the inexpensive, easy-to-use weapons have found their way into the hands of criminals and other unauthorized end-users throughout the country. The wayward grenades are part of a broader problem of illicit proliferation of small arms, light weapons, and their ammunition that has plagued Ukraine since Russian-backed separatists launched their uprising in 2014.

'A woman and a child carrying a bag of onions crossed into the Central African Republic (CAR) from Cameroon on 27 April, 2014. Inside the bag, buried among the onions, was a box of shotgun ammunition intended for anti-Balaka militia — groups of vigilante units known to have committed a number of atrocities, including carrying out attacks on UN peacekeepers. CAR customs officials along with the African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA) seized and documented the ammunition...'