Tackling Small Arms in Central Africa [BICC Working paper]

This paper seeks to find out if an understanding of previous micro-disarmament programs could serve as the basis for policy measures that could effectively tackle the problem of small arms and their misuse in the sub-region of Central Africa. The paper attempts this by first reviewing the literature on microdisarmament with particular reference to post conflict disarmament in developing countries. The paper argues that while weapons collection may be perceived as a technical problem, there are overwhelming socio-political and economic factors that hinder any attempts to effectively address the issue of surplus weapons, its proliferation and misuse within the region. The magnitude and complexity of the problem warrants a multidimensional approach that deals with the issue at the local, national, regional and international levels.