-        Distinguished representatives of the Eastern Africa Member States of the African Union,

-        The Executive Secretary of the Regional Center on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA)

-         Head, Secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty;

-        Head, Conventional and Ammunition Programme, UNIDIR;

-        Technical Director, EUP2P ATT, Expertise France;

-         Head of political, Press and Information, Delegation of the EU to the AU;

-        Esteemed Colleagues from the African Union Commission.  

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

On  behalf of the Madam Patience Chiradza, Director for Governance and Conflict Prevention of the AU Political Affairs Peace and Security Department, I wish to express our gratitude to the EU Arms Trade Treaty Outreach Programme and Expertise France for kindly collaborating with us in this mutually important Conference aimed at promoting the universalization and the implementation of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and promoting peer to peer support between and among Member states to meet their obligations regarding the ATT.

Excellencies,

Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen,

The critical need for regulated arms trade remains abundantly clear, both regionally and globally. The illicit and irresponsible trade, proliferation and circulation of conventional weapons have devastating and wide-reaching consequences for human security, state stability and economic development.

As you are aware, the African Union and its organs has been among the avid supporters for regulating international trade in conventional weapons in favor of regional stability, preventing arms diversion, and protecting human rights.

This commitment stems from Africa’s protracted experience with armed conflicts and the continued negative consequences of illicit weapons proliferation, particularly small arms and light weapons.

The African Union’s commitment was illustratively expressed through the adoption of African Common Position on an ATT. It can be recalled that the Common Position was called for by the 17^th AU Summit of July 2011 and was developed through a series of extensive consultations with Member States and Regional Economic Communities.

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As of today, 33 AU Member States are party to the ATT, clearly this accession to treaty reflects Africa’s continued support for the Treaty since negotiations began up to its adoption in 2013, and it’s only a matter of the rest of the 22 AU Member States to accede to the treaty and the AU will have a universalized treaty on the Continent. 

Since its adoption, the Peace and Security Council of the AU has continued to call on all AU Member States, as well as the members of the international community, to become party to the ATT and institute effective transfer controls in line with its provisions.

Furthermore, the 28^th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, held in January 2017, adopted the AU Master Roadmap for Silencing the Guns in Africa. This Roadmap provides; a number of practical steps and modalities for action, such as preventing the illicit inflow of weapons into the continent and to conflict zones through strengthened enforcement of arms embargoes as well as through continent-wide adherence to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).

In realizing the vision of silencing the Guns, the Peace and Security Council, the AU Peace Support Operations and the Regional Economic Communities are actively involved in arms control. Additionally, more efforts are being deployed towards building Member States capacities to implement control measures in line with regional and international instruments. The AU Assembly reviews the situation at each of its Ordinary Sessions.

 

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wish to underline that prior to the adoption of the ATT, substantial progress was being made in addressing the illicit proliferation and circulation of small arms and light weapons within the frameworks of;

  i.  the United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons,

  ii. the International Tracing Instrument,

  iii. the Firearms Protocol

 iv. as well as the recently adopted “New Global Framework on Conventional Ammunition Management”.

In this respect, I would like to stress that the ATT does not replace, take priority over, nor should it distract from the implementation of other importnant complementary commitments under the international and regional instruments such as the Nairobi Protocol. It should be recognized that these instruments set mutually reinforcing standards and we should strive to realize the highest possible standards in their implementation.

As we continue to call for the ATT universality, we must dedicate equal efforts to ensure its full and effective implementation at the national and regional levels. We are cognizant of the range of challenges facing our Member States, particularly in this Eastern region. These include the absence of dedicated institutions to oversee implementation, weak training of customs officials and border security agencies to detect and prevent trafficking, below standard physical security and stockpile management practices, gaps in regulation and oversight of brokering activities, and an overall lack of commensurate human and financial resources.

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is our sincere hope that by the end of this Conference we would have gained a clear understanding of the valuable contribution of the ATT to regional and national peace and security efforts and are able to infuse it within the existing national frameworks. We recommend the key objectives and desired outcomes of this meeting to include; raising national awareness among stakeholders, and assess the frameworks required to ensure a full and effective implementation of the ATT. We further wish the meeting to highlight synergies and complementarities among Regional obligations under different instruments while identifying assistance needs and international resources that can be made available to Eastern Africa Regional Member States. We finally trust the meeting will generate a roadmap outlining the main steps and measures that the Eastern Region is expected to undertake to ensure the eventual accession and indeed full domestication of the ATT.

We strongly encourage you to make the best of this meeting to learn from one another and share your expert views, concerns and experiences on the matter so as to enable us move forward, in a collective and mutually reinforcing manner, towards realizing the objectives of not only the ATT but also the of Silencing Guns Road Map in the country and the region as a whole.

I wish you fruitful deliberations and thank you for your kind attention.

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