The ECOWAS/EU Small Arms Project

The ECOWAS/EU Small Arms Project

Project Details

Duration

2015 – 2019

Funded by

European Union

Project Location

The Project covers six (6) countries in two clusters within the Mano River Union (Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone) and in the Sahel region (Mali and Niger) and Nigeria

Partners

Government of Pilot countries, NATCOMs, CSOs, ECOWAS national offices, European Union

 

About the project

The partnership between the ECOWAS, EU and the UNDP adopted a proactive approach to address the SALW proliferation to ensure lasting peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution in West Africa. This approach reflects the vision of the ECOWAS Peace, Security and Stability mandate and the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF). The partnership is currently working on addressing the insufficient knowledge about the dangers of illicit proliferation of SALWs through advocacy, capacity building and sensitization programmes; weak enforcement capacity and lack of modern equipment of participating countries through institutional and human capacity building; reducing the availability and circulation of SALWs within the communities through collection, record keeping and destruction of SALWs; increased social amenities in border communities by supporting community-based development initiatives as incentives to surrender arms, through voluntary weapons surrender/collection in exchange for community development projects.

The project is aimed at addressing insufficient knowledge about the dangers of illicit proliferation of SALWs through advocacy, capacity building and sensitization programmes; Weak enforcement capacity and lack of modern equipment in participating countries through institutional and human capacity building; reducing the availability and circulation of SALWs within the communities through collection, record keeping and destruction of SALWs; increased social amenities in border communities by supporting community-based development initiatives as incentives to surrender arms, through voluntary weapons surrender/collection in exchange for community development projects.