The Chronicle interview.

IBRAHIMA E. SALL is the Director of the Programme of Assistance and Coordination for Security and Development (PCASED), a UN Development Programme (UNDP) Africa regional programme designed to combat the proliferation of small arms and to be the implementing instrument of the Moratorium on importation, exportation and manufacture of small arms, signed by the 15 members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Mr. Sail, a graduate of HEC Business School (France), the Wharton School of Finance of the University of Pennsylvania (United States) and the University Paris La Sorbonne, was formerly Minister of Planning Economic Development and International Cooperation of Senegal and a staff member of the International Finance Corporation. He has also worked as a consultant for international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

On the proliferation of small arms and light arms

Since the end of the Second World War, tens of millions of people have been killed by conventional weapons, mostly small arms and light weapons, such as rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Easy to buy, easy to transport and easy to use, these military-style weapons are the weapons of choice in low-intensity conflicts and have become the tools of the trade of drug smugglers, terrorists, rebels and criminals, corroding the fabric of civil society.

There are more than half a million small arms and light weapons currently in circulation. More than 50 per cent of the weapons that proliferate in Africa--an estimated 8 million in West Africa alone--have been used to fuel bloody conflicts in that subregion, as well as in the Mano River Basin, Guinea Bissau and the Cassamance region, and more recently in Cote d'lvoire. Recurring cycles of violence, erosion of political legitimacy and loss of economic viability--all of these deprive affected Governments of their authority and ability to cope with the accumulation, proliferation and use of small arms. The resulting "weaponization' of society fuels further cycles of violence, despair and, ultimately, State collapse.

The first step in breaking this vicious cycle is to recognize and understand a problem that until recently received little attention from diplomats and disarmament experts. One important development is the first United Nations International Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons In All Its Aspects, held in July 2001. No doubt, the Security Council's meeting on 18 March 2003 on the question of "proliferation of small arms and light weapons, and the phenomenon of mercenaries: threats to peace and security in West Africa" was another timely opportunity to raise awareness and understanding of the excessive and destabilizing accumulation and trafficking of small arms and light weapons in West Africa, and to promote international efforts to address this problem.

On the ECOWAS Moratorium on light weapons

Recognizing the threats to national and regional security posed by the proliferation and trafficking of small arms and light weapons, and convinced that the collective security of West Africa can be best coordinated by a subregional mechanism, the 15 members of ECOWAS signed a Moratorium on the importation, exportation and manufacturer of light weapons in West Africa. The Moratorium's "security-first" approach is derived from the broad UNDP goals of poverty eradication and sustainable human development in Africa, a fundamental pre-requisite of which is enhanced human security within and between States. This new vision of response to crisis and postcrisis situations, articulated by UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown in January 2001, is now practised as a valid proposition for societies that have been shattered by civil strife and armed conflicts, and where humanitarian and development imperatives cannot be dissociated from the rule of law and good governance. This integrated approach to the challenges of co untries in special development circumstances found practical and concrete expression in the ECOWAS protocol relating to the mechanism for conflict prevention, management, resolution, peacekeeping and security, which came into existence in December 1999, in a bid to institutionalize conflict management and peace-building in West Africa. A supplementary protocol on democracy and governance was ratified in December 2001 to reinforce the complementarities between peace, security, democracy and sustainable development.

On UNDP disarmament efforts in West Africa

As an integral part of our ongoing efforts in the promotion of a culture of peace and human security in West Africa, our main focus in practical disarmament is assistance to strengthen the capacity of ECOWAS members for the systematic collection and destruction of all surplus and unauthorized weapons, in accordance with Article 13 of the Code of Conduct governing the Moratorium. With the Moratorium and its Code of Conduct as the main entry point, PCASED assists member States stem the flow of small arms and light weapons into the subregion, and provide support in consolidating the gains of the Moratorium through practical disarmament, conflict prevention and peace-building, which are all geared to creating a secure environment for sustainable development in the subregion. PCASED operations are guided by a plan of action approved by the ECOWAS Council of Foreign Ministers in March 1999 and is executed by the United Nations Office for Project Services, in close collaboration with the ECOWAS Executive Secretariat .

On development incentives for disarmament

UNDP works to limit the availability of small arms and light weapons in West Africa in a number of ways. Working with national commissions and civil society within ECOWAS member States against the spread of small arms, PCASED undertakes practical disarmament work by creating incentives for people to turn in their small arms to authorities or others at the community level. These incentives usually consist of micro-projects that provide opportunities for sustainable livelihoods, often chosen by communities that participate and turn in their weapons.

Before the establishment of the project in 1999, a total of 3,000 unauthorized small arms and light weapons were reportedly destroyed in the ECOWAS subregion. By the end of 2002, some 35,000 more had been collected and destroyed within some member States, signalling a modest but systematic achievement in the reduction of arms availability and consolidation of human security in the subregion. Since 2001, we have trained over 600 uniformed forces--army, gendarmerie, police and customs--as part of a corollary goal to strengthen the ability of the security sector in all ECOWAS countries. Modest gains have also been recorded in the strengthening of border controls in Mali and similar assistance is envisaged to enhance ongoing cross-border cooperation between Ben in, the Niger and Nigeria, and for the strengthening of Ghana's western border with Cote d'Ivoire.

On the impact of the Moratorium

Evidently, after four years of the Moratorium, the project has achieved substantial impact on the security landscape of member States, mainly through the establishment of national commissions against the proliferation and trafficking of small arms and light weapons in the region. So far, 13 States have national commissions; it is expected that Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia will have established theirs by the end of this year. Our efforts to improve the efficiency of armed and security forces, the collection and destruction of surplus and unauthorized weapons, and several sensitization campaigns with civil society for promoting a culture of peace have had a great impact on the minds of State actors and ordinary citizens. In Mali, in particular, this has led to some reduction of social tensions and a decrease in the unauthorized possession and use of firearms in certain parts of the subregion.

On the challenges for the Moratorium regime

One main area of concern are allegations that not all member States are complying with the Code of Conduct, and that such States are fuelling conflicts through the importation and exportation of small arms, in violation of the Code. This poses a serious challenge to the integrity of the Moratorium. This concern has recently been reinforced by the United Nations Panel of Experts on Liberia and Sierra Leone. In their October 2002 report, they found that between 1 June and 25 August 2002, eight different user certificates from ECOWAS members had been used to import over 210 tons of arms into Liberia, in violation of not just the Moratorium but also the arms embargo on Liberia. Within the framework of the Moratorium regime, PCASED is working closely with the ECOWAS Executive Secretariat to ensure strict compliance with Article 9 of the Code of Conduct, including additional provisions that end-user certificates should contain an express commitment not to resell or transfer the armaments without the permission of both the exporting licensing authority and the ECOWAS Secretariat.

The arms business gets murky when deals on the table are not sanctioned publicly by Governments. This is what happens when clandestine deals are struck in the so-called "grey market". Non-State actors such as brokers are a vital link in the arms trafficking business. While most UN Member States have good exports regulations for arms, they have no regulation whatsoever on brokers, go-betweens and middlemen in the arms trade.

It is imperative that we are also able to solicit the support of other major players, such as the principal suppliers and producers of arms.

An important novelty in the Moratorium regime was the recognition that a constructive engagement and dialogue with arms producers and suppliers would be crucial for the successful implementation of the Moratorium. As it were, a regional agreement to limit the flows of arms was negotiated; in return, the main supplier States were requested to respect its provisions and assist in its implementation. A deal was thus struck with the Wassennaar Arrangement, comprising 33 arms-producing and exporting States. The group has since agreed to respect the Moratorium, and some dialogue for the strengthening of this cooperation framework has been maintained.

On the continued funding of the Programme

Operations are funded from multilateral and bilateral sources, including UNDP and the Governments of Belgium, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. PCASED has had to develop a resource mobilization strategy aimed at providing a sound financial footing. This strategy has relied on a systematic effort to maintain the confidence of existing donors, as well as securing the commitment of other interested potential donors. However, funding in support of peace and security in West Africa requires a more ambitious plan. In the last Tripartite Review Meeting of the project on 27 February 2003, it was decided that a round-table meeting with donors should be held in December, with the full cooperation of other multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank.