On 15 September, UNIDIR, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA), and Southern African Development Community (SADC) co-hosted a webinar to mark the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW).
Abayomi Adeomi of the ECOWAS Commission, Lilian Wamuyu of RECSA and Thayani Gumede of the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation examined lessons learned from reviewing 20 years of implementation of the SADC Firearms Protocol in 2021, and of the Nairobi Protocol on SALW in 2024. The discussion aimed to support a similar review of the ECOWAS Convention on SALW.
A milestone anniversary can be an important moment to reflect, take stock of achievements and obstacles overcome, and consider new challenges and opportunities ahead.
Dr Paul Holtom, Head of UNIDIR’s Conventional Weapons Programme
What has worked?
Member states of ECOWAS, RECSA and SADC have made progress in implementing regional SALW control instruments, particularly by establishing national coordination mechanisms and government focal points, strengthening physical security and stockpile management, and marking weapons through capacity-building programmes.
For ECOWAS, the Convention’s exemption procedure introduced a norm under which no State should import SALW without the knowledge and non-objection of fellow member states. A joint UNIDIR-RECSA regional assessment also shows tangible progress in RECSA member states’ transfer-control legislation and inter-agency coordination. Across the SADC region, the Firearms Protocol prompted reviews of national legislation and administrative measures.
For the RECSA region, national focal points are the backbone of our regional cooperation.
Lilian Wamuyu, Regional Centre on Small Arms
What remains a challenge?
Fully implementing these regional control instruments faces persistent challenges. Recurring conflicts drive demand for arms and ammunition, while porous borders facilitate their illicit trafficking from one conflict to another. Speakers also highlighted weak cooperation between police, customs and border services. Many efforts still rely on donor-driven projects rather than nationally owned efforts to build local capacity and deliver sustainable SALW control.
In Southern Africa, legislation has been reviewed, but the harmonization of laws remains slow. For RECSA, regional information exchanges and cooperation in tracing lag behind the Nairobi Protocol’s aspirations: States are not yet realizing the value of improved marking and record-keeping, which comes only “when a recovered weapon is actually traced, and the results are shared across borders”.
RECSA and ECOWAS both highlighted threats posed by “improvised weapons” outside their instruments’ scope, particularly improvised explosive devices and uncrewed systems. They also pointed to the role of technology in facilitating diversion and trafficking.
For Gumede, “inadequate resources and capacity have created a gap between the commitments contained in the Protocol and their implementation”.
Next steps for regional SALW control
RECSA and SADC shared key lessons learned from their reviews of 20 years of implementation of their control instruments.
In early 2026, UNIDIR and RECSA unveiled a regional scorecard, the first comprehensive assessment of two decades of implementation. It recommended new provisions for the Nairobi Protocol for new technologies, gender-responsive arms control, enhanced cross-border cooperation and regional information sharing.
SADC, meanwhile, conducted its review of the Protocol during 2020-2021. The review resulted in amendments on brokering and tracing, as well as the elaboration and adoption of an action plan and updated standard operating procedures to aid implementation. Reflecting on the SADC experience, Gumede urged ECOWAS to mainstream gender and youth perspectives given that “the proliferation of illicit weapons is closely linked to issues like gender-based violence”.
For RECSA and SADC, key lessons from these processes included the need to:
- Secure a clear political mandate for the review and its recommendations through a regional meeting of ministers (as for RECSA) or Heads of State and Government (as for SADC)
- Ensure member state ownership and leadership of the review process and recommendations
- Build strong partnerships with civil society, research institutes and international organizations to secure a solid evidence base, allowing comparisons of each member state’s situation when the instrument was adopted with its situation today.
Adeomi said that “these ideas resonate with what we have planned” for the ECOWAS review, which will be driven by on-the-ground evaluations by independent experts and by stakeholder consultations. He stressed the importance of strengthening the ECOWAS framework “from an ECOWAS of states to an ECOWAS of people”, combining State and human security to address not only the supply of illicit arms but also the root causes of demand.
The benefits of reviewing regional small arms instruments
The event demonstrated the value of sharing not only the results of landmark reviews, but also lessons from the review process itself and how findings can strengthen regional and national small arms control.
Further milestones include:
- the Kinshasa Convention marks the tenth anniversary of its entry into force on 8 March 2027; and
- the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials marks the thirtieth anniversary of its adoption on 14 November 2027 – and of its entry into force on 1 July 2028.
UNIDIR will continue to support efforts to highlight progress and challenges in implementing regional SALW control instruments. It will also explore lessons that can strengthen national and regional efforts to counter the diversion, illicit trade and misuse of conventional arms and ammunition.