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Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) |
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Background
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of
fifteen countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia,
Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra
Leone, Togo), founded in 1975. Its mission is to promote economic integration
in "all fields of economic activity, particularly industry, transport,
telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary
and financial questions, social and cultural matters .......". ECOWAS became
increasingly concerned with security issues, undertaking six regional
peacekeeping operations since 1990s. A UN advisory mission in the region in
1994 and 1995 noted that reducing the availability and spread of small arms in
the region would be vital to create a minimum level of security for development
projects to be carried out successfully. In a UNIDIR/UNDP conference on
conflict prevention, disarmament and development in West Africa in Bamako on
25-29 November 1996 the proposal for a moratorium was well received by the
delegations present. ECOWAS also participated actively in discussions of the
proposal and on 12 March 1998 the ECOWAS council of ministers instructed the
ECOWAS Secretariat to draft a text for the moratorium proposal. On 31st October
1998, the ECOWAS countries adopted the world’s first regional Moratorium on
the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Light Weapons, to
be in effect for three years.
The following year, on 10th December 1999, the ECOWAS member
states agreed a Code of Conduct for the implementation of the
Moratorium. It specifies the types of weapons covered by the Moratorium and
expands the scope of the Moratorium to include ‘components and ammunition’ for
those weapons. The Code of Conduct calls for institutional arrangements to be
put in place to support the implementation of the Moratorium, specifically
National Commissions consisting of representatives from relevant authorities
and civil society and structures, staff and procedures within the ECOWAS
Secretariat. With regard to regional cooperation, the Code of Conduct requires
information exchange to improve transparency (the development of a regional
arms register and database) as well as the harmonization of legislation and
administrative measures. It also allows for the development of procedures for
inter-state cooperation between customs, law and order and other relevant
officials, in tandem with the development of more effective border control
mechanisms. Finally, the Code of Conduct includes provisions referring to
public relations and outreach, resource mobilisation to ensure long term
financial support, dialogue with suppliers and producers, declaration of
weapons and ammunition used in regional peace operations and the possibility of
the extension of the Moratorium regime to other African States.
The moratorium was a political, voluntary instrument, and by 2003 the ECOWAS
Heads of State and Government had decided to transform it into a legally
binding instrument in order to ensure more effective and comprehensive
implementation. The process of the development of the ECOWAS Convention
included input from the EU, Canada and Switzerland, West African civil society
and PCASED. The draft text of the Convention was drawn up by two independent
consultants selected by the ECOWAS Secretariat. The ECOWAS Convention on
Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and other Related Materials
was adopted on the 14th June 2006. The Convention prohibits all international
transfers of small arms within the subregion unless a Member States obtains an
exemption from the ECOWAS Secretariat. It stipulates strict controls on the
manufacture of SALW and lays down measures to support transparency and exchange
of information between Member States. Further provisions deal with civilian
possession, stockpile security, marking, tracing and brokering. The Convention
also contains a provision for a register of arms destined for use in peace
operations and calls for a dialogue with manufacturers and international
suppliers.
ECOWAS welcomed the adoption of the UN Programme of Action, seeing it as an
effective mechanism to support regional efforts. The UNDP supported the
implementation of the moratorium through the Program for Coordination and
Assistance for Security and Development in Africa (PCASED), which was set up to
address security questions in the region related to the proliferation of small
arms. Activities under the moratorium included the establishment of arms
databases, education and public awareness campaigns, a review of legislation
governing the purchase of small arms and the collection and destruction of
weapons. At the end of PCASED’s mandate in 2004, ECOSAP, a five year SALW
programme again involving the collaboration of UNDP with ECOWAS was launched on
6th June 2006. The project aims to build capacity of the region’s National
Commissions, and to provide technical support to the newly formed Small Arms
Unit in the ECOWAS secretariat. To date ECOSAP has provided both National
Commissions and the Small Arms Unit with vehicles and equipment. ECOSAP also
works with civil society, for example, in jointly organising a two day
subregional forum in June 2006 with the West African Action Network on Small
Arms (WAANSA) and attending a civil society conference on small arms in
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 20 - 24 June 2007.
The first International Consultative Conference on the Implementation of the
Economic Community of West African States Small Arms Control Programme
(ECOSAP), organised jointly by ECOWAS and the Government of Ghana, with support
from Ghana UNDP country office, was held from 12 - 16 February 2007. At the end
of the conference, member states adopted a Harmonised Regional SALW Control
Implementation Action Plan for 2007. In that document, the conduct of national
SALW surveys was agreed as the most important joint activity for 2007. ECOSAP
worked to support this aim, leading to the adoption of a harmonised set of
survey questionnaires at the end of a two day consultative meeting held in
Bamako, Mail, from 28 - 29 April 2008. The surveys track, inter alia,
distribution of SALW, stockpile management issues and knowledge, attitude and
perception (KAP) of SALW issues. This endeavour included collaboration between
ECOWAS and its Member States with UNDP, UNDESA and the Small Arms Survey
ECOSAP has also organised border management meetings, dividing Member States
into four clusters for this purpose, in which field experiences are exchanged
between National Commissions, national survey consultants, ECOSAP, the ECOWAS
Commission and UNDP. More recently, ECOSAP organised workshops for
representatives from Member States’ armed forces and police on the professional
management and security of the stocks of arms and ammunition in line with
current international best-practices. Topics covered included record-keeping
and accident prevention. A workshop for English speaking states was held in
Kaduna, Nigeria on 8 – 12 June 2009 while French and Portuguese speaking states
were hosted in Bamako, Mali on 11 – 14 May 2009 at the Ecole de Maintien de la
Paix. |
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Member countries:
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Benin
Burkina Faso
Cape Verde
Côte d'Ivoire
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Liberia
Mali
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Togo
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