Yaounde: Experts concert to develop blueprint for small arms & light weapons governance.

The workshop was organised by Cameroon Youths and Students Forum for Peace, CAMYOSFOP, in collaboration with the Ministry of External Relations, MINREX, and with the support of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa, UNREC, and the United Nations Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation, UNSCAR. 

It was aimed at strengthening SALW governance in Central Africa by developing a harmonised blueprint that integrates National Action Plans and targets, enabling coordinated implementation and regional accountability across five ECCAS member states. 

It was had also objectives to consolidate and analyse existing national action plans and SALW targets in Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Congo, and Gabon; develop a regional reference document aligned with Kinshasa Convention, UN PoA, and ITI commitments; facilitate stakeholder consultations to validate and adopt the blueprint; and build national capacity for coordinated implementation, reporting, and cross-border cooperation.

In his welcome address at the opening ceremony, the Executive Director of CAMYOSFOP, Ngalim Eugine Nyuydine, said the consultation was part of a broader initiative to harmonise National Action Plans and SALW targets across five ECCAS Member States; Cameroon, Chad, Congo, the Central African Republic, and Gabon. 

“By aligning our frameworks with the Kinshasa Convention, the UN Programme of Action, PoA, and other international instruments, we aim to strengthen national ownership, enhance transparency, and foster cross-border cooperation,” he said.

Ngalime added that: “This gathering is not only technical, it is also deeply symbolic. It demonstrates Cameroon’s resolve to confront the challenges posed by the proliferation of SALW, to safeguard communities and empower them in promoting peace, in shaping sustainable peace, security and the stability of Central Africa”.

On his part, H.E. Dr Ivor Richard Fung, Chief of Conventional Arms Branch at United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, UNODA, said the workshop will enable Cameroon and other ECCAS member states and put in place a national commission, elaborate and adopt a national action plan on how to combat illegal proliferation of SALWs. 

Dr Fung said the UN has been helping Cameroon to fight the proliferation of SALWs.

“Within the context of the Kinshasa Convention, in 2018, Cameroon was elected president of the first conference of the state parties. The Secretary General of the United Nations appointed a Secretary General in my person to work with the Cameroon authorities in their capacity as president of this conference of the State parties,” he disclosed.

He added that: “In our office we have also assisted Cameroon in carrying forward the ‘Silencing the Guns’ programme of the African Union. In tis context, we were able to orgainse here in Cameroon an Amnesty Month, which allowed Cameroon to collect and destroy illicit weapons. We are also assisting Cameroon in the elaboration of its national plan of action. The collaboration with Cameroon is very strong and we will continue to work together so that Cameroon can show that it is a good example in the region”.

SALWs among factors causing instability 

Opening the workshop while representing the Minister of External Relations, the Director of Protocol, Ceremonial and Consular Affairs at the ministry, Gervais Bindzi Edzimbi, said the proliferation of SALWs is one of the factors that cause instability in the central Africa region as they increase armed conflicts.

He thus said countries have to elaborate action plans to combat the spread of these arms and weapons. He noted that there should be a coordination in these action plans elaborated by central African countries in order to re-enforce synergy of actions by these member states.

Bindzi also said such synergised actions will enhance coherence, efficiency, ameliorate cross-border collaboration and ensure sustainable governance of SALWs in the region.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3781 of Wednesday May 06, 2026