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Contributions from
the Column
Studies and reports
International ODA rate is far from its peak value
EU enlargement – an opportunity for European development policy
Energy turning point: efficiency revolution and break-even charges
After the war: what form of government for Iraq?
The small arms problem cannot be solved in isolation
Pro-poor growth to reduce poverty
Foreign investment: democracies preferred?
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[ InWEnt policy dialogue ]
The small arms problem cannot be solved in isolation
More than 60 decision-makers and experts, mainly from Africa and Asia, took part in a policy dialogue on the United Nations small arms action programme which was held by the Development Policy Forum of InWEnt and the German Development Ministry (BMZ) in Bonn, April 28-29. The meeting's aim was to contribute to preparation of the review conference on the UN action programme to be held in July, and explore possibilities for new partnerships in combating the spread of small arms and light weapons.
In a keynote address, BMZ State Secretary Erich Stather pointed to the importance of international cooperation for successful countering of illicit trafficking in small arms. He said regional initiatives at European Union level and also within the framework of the East African Community, which were supported by Germany, were promising and should be presented as a model in other regions. Where there was fear of armed violence there could be no development. That was why German development policy would support the UN action programme as best it could.
Kuniko Inoguchi, the Japanese chairman of the UN review conference, used the Forum to explain its conference strategy, which she said would focus on PR work and transparency. In contrast to the UN conference in 2001, at which the action programme was launched, the negotiations will this time be open to the public. In addition, on July 9, during the conference, small arms will be destroyed worldwide.
In a main address, Omari Ramadhani Mapuri, the Tanzanian Interior Minister, reported that his country could no longer cope unaided with the difficult situation that had arisen there due to the spread of small arms. Tanzania had common borders with eight countries in which there had been armed conflicts at various times. As a result, Tanzania had been flooded with refugees and weapons during the last 40 years. This had led to increasing violent crime, drugs trafficking, prostitution, money-laundering, international white-collar crime, and indirectly also to the spread of HIV/AIDS. He said the example of Tanzania made clear that the small arms problem was long not one that could be solved in isolation because among other things it was inseparable from the international drugs trade.
The delegates in Bonn analysed the complex structure of the small arms and compared notes – both could help to improve political decisions to resolve armed conflicts, and also in the sectors of crisis prevention and post-conflict peace-building. For example, the former Assistant UN Secretary-General Manfred Eisele pointed out that in Sierra Leone the democratic elections – which had been well monitored by observers from the North – had not resulted in resolution of the conflict behind the civil war which in the meantime has been ended. It was true that the rebels had transformed themselves into a political party, but in the elections they had not won a single Parliamentary seat due to the country's first-past-the-post electoral system.
Peter Lock
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