Addis Ababa Meeting on Small Arms - Final Communique

The 2nd Regional Parliamentary Forum on the Implementation of the Nairobi Protocol for the Prevention, Control and Reduction of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and Horn of Africa



21-22 February 2007, Sheraton Addis Hotel

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia



COMMUNIQUE



We Parliamentarians from the Member States Signatory to the Nairobi Protocol, National Focal Point Coordinators, the East African Community Secretariat, and related partners, having attended the 2nd Regional Parliamentary Forum on “The Implementation of The Nairobi Protocol for the Prevention, Control and Reduction of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and Horn of Africa”; Organized by Regional Centre on Small Arms in collaboration with the Great Lakes Parliamentary Forum on Peace-AMANI Forum and Saferworld, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; at Sheraton Addis Hotel; February 21st-22nd 2007;





Hereby acknowledge that the rationale for the 2nd Regional Parliamentary Forum on the implementation of the Nairobi Protocol for the prevention, control and reduction of small arms and light weapons has been quite timely.



WE noted that the 1st Forum held in Mombasa, Kenya; December 8th-9th, 2005 sought to expose Parliamentarians to the problem of SALW in the region, the existing strategies to combat it and the urgent need for their individual and, or group involvement in tackling the problem through their parliamentary roles. Since then, a number of activities have, either directly or indirectly related to the recommendations of the Forum, taken place in and outside the region. Some of these activities have had great successes. Similarly, certain Forum recommendations may not have received relative success on implementation due to a number of factors. Other issues may have also emerged that call for change of strategies or improved partnerships among various actors as a means of stepping up positive outcomes.



WE noted further that the objectives of the 2nd Forum were to:

· Review the progress made by Parliamentarians, Parliaments and other parliamentary and non-parliamentary bodies in the GLR/HA in supporting prevention, control and reduction of SALW in the region since the 1st Parliamentary Forum held in Mombasa , Kenya in December 2005.



· Assess and strengthen national partnerships and collaborative mechanisms involving parliaments, Parliamentarians and relevant government agencies, especially the National Focal Points in the management of SALW.



· Mainstreaming small arms control initiatives in existing peace building and conflict resolutions mechanisms in parliaments as well as national, regional and continental platforms.



Workshop deliberations



WE acknowledge that the workshop deliberations which were highly participatory, graced by Chief Guest Hon. Ambassador Teshemo Tegao, Speaker of the National Assembly of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and facilitated by experts Ms. Salome Katia , Messrs David de Beer, Francis K. Sang, Alex Nyago, Richard Nabuddere and Leonard Onyonyi; Honorables Manuel de Araujo, Charles Kakoma and Norbert Mao, focused on Parliamentary initiatives and activities in supporting control and management of SALW. High premium was attached on the extent to which Parliamentarians are involved in putting small arms control top on their political agenda.



Underpinning the discussions were the following issues and questions:

* Do Parliamentarians understand the dynamics in the concept of Small Arms and Light Weapons in their countries and in the region?



* To what extent are Parliamentarians involved in the search for knowledge and solutions to the proliferation of SALW in the region?



* Given that parliamentarians as a policy making group are aware of the impact of regional and international terrorism, what effort do they ever make to ensure free and safe lives for their citizens?



* Since parliamentarians are part of the Government, to what extent do they participate in influencing decision-making through legal drafting committees on the control and prevention of the proliferation of SALW in the region?



* Given that Parliamentarians are leaders, how much does each one of them participate in the leadership process of managing SALW in his/her country?



* How should each Member State act on the management of SALW before the last bullet?



* Must we dispose of all de-commissioned, recovered or surrendered weapons?



* To what extent are the governments of RECSA member States involved in providing a common “take off” in order for all of them to achieve the Nairobi Protocol best practices at the same rate?



* Is it not possible that some industrialized nations in the West are continuously investing in the proliferation of SALW in the GLR/HA?



* Since the region suffers from lack of effective National Focal Points and poor database management, how much should members of Parliament help their governments to speed up the Action Plan on Best Practices?



Specific Concerns in the Deliberations



We emphasized, among other concerns, the need for:

· Every Government in the region to institutionalize legislative frameworks relevant to the Nairobi Protocol, especially the prevention, control and reduction of small arms and light weapons in the Great Lakes Region and Horn of Africa.



· Parliamentarians to be empowered with target knowledge on the risks of the proliferation of SALW, and be challenged to show readiness, commitment and personal participation in campaigning, lobbying, and advocating for a safer region, through contributing to legislative drafting committees of their governments.



· The region (RECSA) to offer opportunities for National Focal Points and Parliamentarians to get exposed to, participate in, contribute to, and help implement regional, sub-regional and international protocols on the proliferation of SALW.



· National Focal Points, Parliamentarians, law enforcement agencies and the related partners to seek more avenues for sustainable collaboration, negotiation, integration, and agreement on demand and supply of SALW in the region, sub-region, and internationally.



· Inter-Governmental transparency and accountability be secured and manifested in the effort to investigate, understand, develop legislative frameworks, and initiate cross-border activities aimed at disarmament and control of SALW. To achieve this other stakeholders should be involved



· Formation of intra and inter-Parliamentary should be linked with other networks such as AMANI Forum, the UN firearms Protocol, the African Union, the European Union, the East African Community, the ECOWAS, and the SADC, for purposes of collaboration and solidarity; strengthening interpretation, support and implementation of legislative frameworks on the manufacture, import, export, transfer, and use of SALW.









Resolutions for the Way Forward



WE hereby resolve as a way forward that:

1. All the signatories of the Nairobi Protocol and the related partners should endeavor to increase their network through research, communication and interaction on matters of prevention, control and reduction of SALW in the GLR/HA.



2. The complexity of the world we live in today, especially the political economy of SALW, proposes the need for a more holistic and multi-dimensional approach to the fight against the proliferation of SALW. This requires that the governments, civil society, and target partners be brought on board for a comprehensive and participatory decision-making at all levels of the community and government.



3. Implementation of the regional, sub-regional, and international protocols on the best practices with regard to the manufacture, import, export, transfer and use of SALW, requires focused and organized collaboration, solidarity and trust of the National Focal Points especially in the search, choice and use of resources, strategies and techniques.



4. Parliament, Parliamentarians and the Executive should be made more responsible and accountable to their citizenry in the region and sub-regions, through drafting, funding, implementing, harmonizing, monitoring and evaluating appropriate legislature on the prevention, control and reduction of SALW in the GLR/HA.



5. Members of Parliament and parliamentary committees should endeavour to research (through visits, consultative outreach activities), find and put to practical use information on the risks of the proliferation of SALW, only then will they be empowered to campaign, lobby, advocate and influence their governments in the construction, funding and implementation of effective legal frameworks and procedures in the fight against the proliferation of SALW.



6. Members of Parliaments should endeavour to marshal, motivate and encourage community participation in target protocols through identification and circulation of translated and simplified data; and explain to them the core values through different practical media for every member of the community to understand and appreciate.



7. There is evidence that not all signatories of the Nairobi Protocol are proceeding with the implementation of the Best Practices at the same rate due to diverse factors. However, there is the need for results at regional and sub-regional levels, to prove that all member states are committed to developing and implementing National Action Plans.



8. The responsibility of monitoring and evaluating the rate at which every member state is implementing the Best Practices still rests with RECSA. However, every country’s Parliament, Parliamentarians and Executive have a duty to determine the standard of their National role-play in alignment with regional, sub-regional and international standards.



9. Parliamentarians impress upon their respective Governments the need to respond to the UN Secretary General’s letter of 16th January 2007, seeking views on the feasibility, scope and draft parameters for a comprehensive legally binding instrument establishing common standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms before 30th April 2007.

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