Africa Regional Police Chiefs' Organizations Meeting

The first Africa Regional Police Chiefs' Organizations Meeting on the project "The Fight against the Illicit Accumulation and Trafficking of Firearms and explosive materials in Africa" was held in Kigali Rwanda from 26th to 27th May 2011.

The meeting brought together delegates representing Police Chiefs from EAPCCO, CAPCCO, SARPCCO, WAPCCO and ECOWAS including the host country, Rwanda. In attendance were also representatives from the AU, EU, Interpol and RECSA

2011 Executive Visits to Member States

The Executive Secretary and the Deputy Executive Secretary are undertaking a series of visits to the Member States to brief Ministers in charge of security on the progress of the implementation of the Nairobi Protocol in the region. Also on the agenda are discussions on the outcome of the 7th TAC meeting and the upcoming 6th Council of ministers meeting scheduled to take place in Djibouti.

RECSA Represented in the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS)
The Regional Centre on Small Arms was represented at BMS4 held in New York from 14th to 18th June 2010.
On Wednesday 16th June, RECSA made a statement outlining progress in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States in the implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action on Small Arms.The statement touched on arms marking, record keeping, regional and international cooperation, public awareness, among other key areas of implementation of the Plan of Action.
In addition, the Secretariat gave input at a number of side events on the status of implementation of the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States.
Among other commitments, BMS4 promised better cooperation in international assistance to regions and countries affected by the proliferation and misuse of small arms and recognised the need for a comprehensive approach to border controls to reduce the illegal flow of arms between countries.

Bilateral Discussions on MANPADS and Brokering

RECSA is running a number of national discussions on Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) and brokering of small arms in a number of its Member States.

MANPADS, commonly described as shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, are short-range surface-to-air weapons designed to be fired by an operator on the ground. The failed attack on an Israeli airliner in Mombasa, Kenya in 2002, and successful attacks on international aviation elsewhere over the years illustrate the danger posed by the proliferation of illegal MANPADS and the need to control these weapons.

RECSA Technical Advisory Committee Meeting



The RECSA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) had its 6th meeting in Djibouti on March 14th at the Kempinski Palace hotel. The meeting considered and approved the draft Gender Policy completed in December 2009. The Policy will be forwarded to the Council of Ministers in their next sitting.


Inter-Regional Disarmament Project Launched



RECSA has received funding from the Japan Government through UDNP to implement a one-year regional disarmament project.

The project Enhancing human security in the Great Lakes Region and Horn of Africa by preventing proliferation of illicit small arms through practical disarmament is expected to produce best practices in disarmament to enhance cross-border cooperation between countries in disarming illegally armed groups.
A baseline survey will be conducted in Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia to inform the development of the guidelines. Under the project, RECSA will develop a small arms and light weapons information management software for its member states

Small arms project regional meet



RECSA, in collaboration with SADC, hosted a regional seminar for the Southern Africa region under the three-year RECSA EU-funded small arms project. The meeting held on 14th and 15th March in Windhoek, Namibia brought together representatives from SADC, SARPCCO, members of parliament, civil society, police, Interpol, among others. Participants reviewed the activities under the project and prioritized areas of intervention for security services, parliamentarians and civil society in the SADC region. This was the fourth regional seminar to be held under the EU-funded small arms project. Similar seminars were held in the RECSA, ECOWAS and ECCAS regions.
RECSA TAC Holds its 7th Ordinary Sitting


The RECSA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) held its 7th Ordinary meeting in Djibouti on 13th and 14th February. The meeting considered reports from the Planning and Operations, Human Resource, and Finance and Audit sub-committees that met prior to the TAC meeting. The sub-committees considered issues arising from key documents presented by RECSA before submitting reports to the TAC meeting. The documents will be forwarded to the Council of Ministers (COM) by TAC for approval. COM is expected to sit in May in Djibouti.

EU Project Consolidation Seminar

The RECSA managed trans-regional project entered its second year of implementation with the holding of a regional meeting at the African Union Complex in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The aim of the meeting was to consolidate priorities identified by Regional Economic Commissions (ECOWAS and ECCAS) and RECSA partners in regional seminars held in the first year.

RECSA signs Funding Agreement for Small arms Work with European Union


The European Union is providing a grant of EUR 500,000 to the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA) to coordinate a project aimed at enhancing the role of civil society and national efforts in the prevention, control and reduction of illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW). This grant is in addition to the EUR 3.3 million provided to RECSA in March 2010 for the 1st Pan-African Project on SALW funded by the European Union, aimed at supporting the Africa-EU strategic partnership in the fight against illicit accumulation and trafficking of firearms and explosive materials.
Ethiopia Arms Destruction


A team comprising Federal Police of Ethiopia and two RECSA officials undertook an small arms assessment mission to three sites, namely Federal Police armoury in Addis; Kolfe (Crime Prevention Department); and Akaki main Prison between 23rd and 28th August, 2010. The main objective of the mission was to determine the stockpile destruction requirements and options and the general infrastructure required for the exercise.

ECOWAS Regional Seminar on AU-EU Small Arms Project

RECSA, in collaboration with ECOWAS, hosted a regional seminar for the West African sub-region under the Africa Union-EU small arms project. The meeting held on 6th and 7th September in Accra, Ghana brought together representatives from the African Union, the UN, ECOWAS Parliament, Security Services, and Ghana National Commission on Small Arms and the West African Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA). Participants reviewed the activities under the project and prioritized areas of intervention for security services, parliamentarians and civil society in the ECOWAS region. This was the second regional seminar to be held under the AU-EU small arms project that is to run for three years. Similar seminars are to be held in the Southern and Central regions to enable these regions to prioritize interventions in the area of small arms to be funded under the project.



Small Arms In Africa

Small Arms Circulation

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