West Africa: New ECOWAS small arms convention

Independent experts from Africa, Europe and the US have endorsed the draft ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons after a two-day review meeting held at the ECOWAS secretariat in Abuja, an ECOWAS statement said. The Convention will replace the eight-year-old regional Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Small Arms and Light Weapons, which was signed by regional leaders in October 1998. Among the novelties in the 20-page draft Convention, which was prepared by two ECOWAS consultants, are sanctions and monitoring mechanism for violations of its provisions. This will equip the region with the instrument to curb the inflow of these categories of arms into the region.