Legal experts from twelve African countries are due to meet in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Thursday to tighten regulation of small arms and light weapons, organizers said on Wednesday.
A statement from the Nairobi-based Regional Center on Small Arms (RECSA) said the two-day conference will review small arms policy and progress made by Kenya and in respect to the harmonization of legislation on firearms both at the national and regional levels.
"The forum will bring together legal experts and representatives of various ministries, department and agencies of the 12 governments who are in charge of the legislation, security and law-enforcement," the statement said.
The Nairobi Protocol which was signed in 2004 obliges signatories, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, the Seychelles, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Tanzania, to take such concrete action as passing legislation to back up earlier more abstract pledges.
Legislation envisaged in the protocol provides for the outlawing of those engaged in the illicit manufacture, trafficking, possession and falsifying or altering the marking of small arms and light weapons, according to the draft protocol.
Illicit small arms and light weapons are one of the biggest problems puzzling the African continent.
In 2000, foreign ministers of the above-mentioned countries reached a declaration in Kenya, vowing to control the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the region.
In 2001, the United Nations adopted a Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, which gave leeway for countries to explore ways to combat the problem.
RECSA is an intergovernmental organization charged with the coordination of all activities against the proliferation and use of small arms and light weapons in 12 countries who are signatory to the Nairobi Protocol on Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa.
Source: Xinhua
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