Oxfam Joins Senegal Commission on Illegal Arms
The government of Senegal has invited Oxfam America to join a national commission creating an action plan to curb the illegal proliferation of arms and misuse of weapons in Senegal.
The Cabinet Director of the Ministry of Armed Forces in Senegal, Mr. Emmanuel René Moise, invited Oxfam America to join the commission in June. The proposed national action plan will help Senegal lead other nations to strengthen the voluntary moratorium imposed by the organization of Economic Cooperation of West African States (ECOWAS), turning it into a binding international convention.
A coalition of organizations in Senegal including Oxfam has been urging the government to take a leadership role in curbing the illegal arms trade since 2003. The establishment of a larger permanent commission indicates the government is taking the illegal proliferation and misuse of arms seriously. Oxfam's participation will formalize the advisory role it has been playing.
The national commission in Senegal so far includes the Ministry of Armed Forces, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of the Interior. It will develop a national plan with the participation of citizen organizations and international groups such as Oxfam. The plan will then be presented at a November 2004 ECOWAS meeting with a call to other countries in the region to create their own action plans and to make the ECOWAS arms ban legally binding. The efforts of Senegal to formalize the ECOWAS arms ban will also help promote the creation of an Untied Nations International Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in 2006.
Oxfam America will support the development and implementation of the national action plan while continuing its awareness-raising efforts around the humanitarian impact of arms in the region. This work is part of Oxfam International's Control Arms global arms campaign, and Oxfam America's on-going support of local efforts to prevent conflict and promote peace in West Africa.