In recent years, local and transnational conflicts in West Africa have evolved and multiplied, including through the spread of violent extremist groups. The steady supply of conventional weapons and ammunition facilitates violent extremism, which in turn drives the demand for weapons, generating a vicious cycle. Both challenges share common underlying causes. Despite these undeniable links, responses to these issues often remain siloed and have so far fallen short of sufficiently addressing common causes of violence and weapons demand and thereby of sustainably preventing violent extremism and weapons proliferation.
In response, UNIDIR, the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) co-convened, in 2023, a regional seminar with key experts from West Africa that initiated cross-sectoral reflection on holistic and sustainable approaches to armed violence. The seminar recommended an empirical study on the links between preventing violent extremism (PVE) and weapons and ammunition management (WAM) in West Africa.
In response, UNIDIR, UNREC and the Swiss FDFA undertook the requested study in 2024-2025. The study promotes an integrated approach linking the prevention of violent extremism and weapons proliferation by tackling both weapons supply and the shared root causes of violence and demand for arms.
The elaboration of this study has been highly participatory. In this spirit, UNIDIR, UNREC, and the Swiss FDFA are co-convening a consultation and forward-looking workshop to once again engage key PVE and WAM stakeholders from West Africa as the study’s elaboration process concludes. The workshop aims to:
- Present and discuss key study results, including good examples and promising opportunities for integrated approaches to prevent violent extremism and weapons proliferation;
- Consider practical pathways for action, resulting from the study, to strengthen integrated approaches;
- Explore concrete implementation of integrated approaches, and consider additional ways of effectively disseminating the study results;
- Nurture knowledge-exchange and mutual learning between PVE and WAM stakeholders, with a view to inspiring integrated action and further strengthening the emerging community of practice.
When and where
Wednesday, 26 – Thursday, 27 November 2025, Lomé, Togo.
Participation
The workshop is by invitation only. It will bring together around 50 participants: government representatives from the region, representatives of regional and continental organizations, the UN, civil society and academia.
Language
The workshop will be held in French and English, with simultaneous interpretation.
Further information
For any queries, please contact Ursign Hofmann at ursign.hofmann@un.org.
In collaboration with
