African civil society priorities By
NOUNOU BOOTO MEETI
IANSA Africa programme Officer Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
22nd May 2012
IANSA:
The global movement against gun violence
– securing stronger regulation on guns in society
– strengthening controls on arms exports
– representing the voices of civil society on the
international stage
The IANSA network
• 800 members in more than 120 countries
• Supporters and contacts
• National, Regional and Thematic networks
IANSA IN AFRICA
49% of IANSA membership is in Africa
IANSA regional Networks in 5 sub regions:
- West African Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA)
- Central African Action Network on Small Arms (CAANSA)
- East African Action Network on Small Arms (EAANSA)
- MENAANSA, Midle East and North Africa Action Network on Small Arms
- HUMANET, Southern Africa Network
• Operational in English, French and Spanish.
• Introducing Portuguese, Arabic and Swahili
• Official designated coordinator for civil society participation at the UN process of small arms control
• Signed Memorandum of understanding with UN Office for Disarmament Affairs
IANSA and ATT Campaign
• 2003: IANSA, Amnesty International and Oxfam launched
Control Arms Campaign in 70 countries calling for the
adoption of an International armes trade treaty. This was
support by Camboge, Costa Rica and Mali.
June 2006 Million Faces. A petition
gathering one million of photographs of
people from around the world asking for
a treaty on arms trade was given to the
United Nations Secretary General Kofi
Annan. The petition was signed by
People from over 160 countries
“The world’s largest photo petition”
Success at the UN
UNSG consult States on viability, scope and parameters of a traity in 2007. And People’s consultations on ATT by civile society
Police consultations in Thailand A march in South Africa
Pop concert, Paraguay
African civil society priorities
Scope
- The ATT must cover a broad scope of
armaments including small arms and light
Weapons and ammunitions
- The ATT must cover all type of transfers (a wide
scope), not just export and import.
Parameters
The ATT must be based on existing international
law, including international human rights law
and international humanitarian law (IHL).
The ATT must oblige states to consider how arms
would affect the development of a state.
Implementation
All members are signatories to Treaty, ratify and later
domesticate
July Negotiation
We supporting the current Draft common position and
we would like to see African member states going to
negotiation with a leadership politics. Africa need to
go wit a clear strategy to the conference
Member states to be vocal
Way forward
- The chairman non paper should the basis for
Negotiation
- African member states need to understand the
procedural rules of the negotiation
- member states should support civil society
participation in the conference
IANSA campaign continues
• 11-17 June 2012: Global Week of Action against Gun Violence
- An annual event that highlights the international campaign to stop the proliferation and misuse of small arms.
- To raise awareness, campaign for better gun laws and push for stronger regulation of the global arms trade.
- Public events, conduct media work, and generally engage more people in the global movement against gun violence.
- Civil society organisations involved in the
global week of Action, will emphasise the
importance of an Arms Trade Treaty, they
will publicise the UN small arms process,
promote the implementation of the UN
Firearms Protocol, and support policies
linking armed violence and development,
among other activities.
Conclusion
• The ATT can make a difference if it is
strong and legally binding
Thank you
Nounou Booto Meeti
www.iansa.org