By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has called for vigorous implemention of the Arms Trade Treaty to suppress proliferation of small arms and light weapons in West African sub region.
The Economic bloc made this call in Lomé, during a regional workshop for the establishment of a national control list for the implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty in ECOWAS Member States.
The Directorate of Communication, ECOWAS Commission, in a statement in Abuja, said, the main objective of the workshop was to establish a harmonized national control list for the effective implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty among ECOWAS Member States.
The Deputy Director of UNREC, Dr. Jiaming Miao, applauded the ECOWAS Commission and the National Commissions on Small Arms of ECOWAS Member States for their sustained interventions, in promoting disarmament and arms control in the region, despite numerous operational constraints.
He assured that UNREC will continue to assist the ECOWAS region to meet its obligations under the ATT and the ECOWAS Convention.
The Director of the ATT, Mr. Dladla Dumisani, said the Secretariat remains committed to supporting the two core priorities of the ATT, namely the universalization of the treaty and the effective implementation of treaty obligations at the national level.
Earlier, in an address of welcome, the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the ECOWAS Commission, Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah, thanked the Togolese Government for the warm welcome.
Represented by Programme Officer, Disarmament and Arms Control, Dr. Sani Adamu, the Commissioner said, the ECOWAS Commission is working assiduously towards ensuring global best practices and standards are in place in our Member States for arms control and management.
The Vice-President of the COMNAT of the Togolese Republic, Mr. Inoussa Bouraima, while declaring the workshop open said, the ATT is indeed an essential instrument that provides a transparent mechanism to regulate the global transfer of conventional arms and prevent their illicit traffic and their diversion.
Mr. Innousa underscores the importance of a national checklist and urged the workshop to come up with proposals that will set the benchmark for the development of a national checklist for effective ATT implementation in the ECOWAS region.
