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Jones Applerh addressing the participants
Civil society organizations (CSOs) have been urged to develop evidence-based research for policy decisions that support the government in combating the illicit flow and proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the country.
The issue of small arms and light weapons, according to the National Commission for Small Arms and Light Weapons, had been of great concern to Ghana and the international community and therefore a strong defense and investigation of the matter would put state actors on alert. .
The commission’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Jones Borteye Applerh, said CSOs had worked on various issues, including human rights, education, security, gender equality, post-conflict reconstruction, among others, which had given successful political results.
Some participants in the event
Opening a three-day workshop in Ho to build CSO capacity on emerging trends in small arms and light weapons, Applerh said that a collective effort between state actors and CSOs would help cut the small arms issue. illicit in the country. sprout and reduce armed violence in the country.
The workshop was also to allow CSOs to lead the promotion of weapons and armed violence.
Although Ghana enjoys relative peace, many people have died from gun violence, and Applerh said the situation was striking because many people had small arms in their various communities without authority.
That, he noted, was very dangerous for the country because any society in which small arms and light weapons were easily acquired also ran the risk of a high level of unjustified deaths and violence.
Fight illicit flow
Ghana, Applerh said, had signed several international instruments to combat the illicit flow of small arms, so CSOs should take an interest in those policies and obligations and help in the fight.
He noted that the mismanagement of small arms issues could negatively impact the development of the country, as other countries, including Cote d’Ivoire, had suffered the damage of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
Mr. Applerh said that the commission had been working very hard to verify the availability and abuse of small arms, but needed the support of CSOs to make their impact felt in the country as their activities were well recognized at the level international.
According to him, reports on recent activities, especially those related to elections in which people abused weapons, had raised concerns among security analysts about how Ghana could carry out peaceful elections this year.
He said a recent commission survey estimated that there were more than 2.3 million small arms in the hands of civilians per police database, but 1.1 million of them were illicit weapons, meaning “we don’t know who they were. possesses, so we must make sure that they do not serve to intimidate the electorate. “
Elections, small arms
The elections, he noted, had been the main vehicle through which small arms and light weapons were abused around the world and, as Ghana prepared for the crucial 2020 elections, the issue should not be underestimated.
He said that the issue of small arms should concern everyone for a safe and peaceful Ghana.
“Therefore, as actors of civil society, we want you to be aware of the current situation and work for peaceful elections so as not to witness the proliferation of weapons,” he said.
Applerh said CSOs could improve the quality of policy-making by providing state agencies with a broader spectrum of information, opinions, and suggestions on how to deal with illicit small arms and expressing the concerns and needs of minority groups than others. otherwise they would not be heard. , including women and youth.
UNDP Deputy Representative Ms Silke Hollander said the government alone could not address the issue, thus requiring CSOs to engage with their in-depth knowledge.
Emerging trends
In a speech read on his behalf, Mr. Baffour Dokyi Amoah, who chairs the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), a global movement against gun violence, said that to better understand emerging trends in small arms and weapons light, good Small arms supply and demand analysis would be important.
The network, it announced, would launch a project in 2021 aimed at strengthening the contribution of CSOs and community leaders at the country level with parliamentarians, ministers and other authorities to develop national priorities for the next phase of implementation of the Program of Action (PoA). from the ONU. .
“Our objective is to strengthen the implementation of the UN PoA, especially in the areas of munitions, gender, sustainable development goals, armed violence and synergies, among the instruments,” he said.
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