United Nations Security Council resolution 1467, adopted unanimously on 18 March 2003, after expressing concern at the situation in West Africa, the Council adopted a declaration regarding the proliferation of

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

s and

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

activities in West Africa. The declaration was adopted after a daylong high-level meeting attended by more than 20 speakers and chaired by

François Lonseny Fall François Lonseny Fall (born 21 April 1949) is a Guinean diplomat and politician. He briefly served as Prime Minister of Guinea from February 23, 2004 to July 15, 2004, under authoritarian President Lansana Conté. Later, under democraticly elec ...

, the foreign minister of

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

Declaration

The Security Council began by expressing concern at and condemning the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, as well as activities by mercenaries in West Africa as contributing to violations of human rights and

international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by prot ...

. Measures adopted at a domestic level to counter the problem in the region were urged to be put into effect, and greater co-operation among states was emphasised in order to prevent illegal

arms trafficking Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small a ...

and mercenary activities. States in West Africa were called upon to consider the following steps to assist in the implementation of the

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political union, political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an ...

(ECOWAS) Moratorium on Small Arms: :(a) expanding the Moratorium to include an information exchange system; :(b) increasing transparency in

armament A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

s through an ECOWAS register recording national inventories of weapons; :(c) strengthening national commissions to monitor the implementation of the Moratorium; :(d) building the capacity of the ECOWAS secretariat; :(e) computerisation of aircraft registration lists to ensure improved monitoring of

airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as aerospace, which is the ...

; :(f) introducing standardised end-user certificates for imported weapons. The declaration also expressed concern at violations of

arms embargo An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to "dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes: * to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor * to maintain ...

es in West Africa and links between such violations, illegal arms trafficking and mercenary activities. Therefore, there was a need to make the population of the subregion aware of the dangers of arms trafficking and the activities of mercenaries. The Council requested ECOWAS states to submit reports on actions taken to implement the United Nations programme of action on small arms and light weapons to the Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

. Appealing to the

donor A donor in general is a person, organization or government which donates something voluntarily. The term is usually used to represent a form of pure altruism, but is sometimes used when the payment for a service is recognized by all parties as rep ...

community, the resolution called for assistance to states in West Africa in implementing such measures. The Council further called upon countries in West Africa to recognise the importance of

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as n ...

demobilisation Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

and reintegration in post-conflict situations and cease support for armed groups in neighbouring countries. Arms-producing countries were requested to strengthen regulations and procedures for arms transfers to West Africa. Finally, the declaration repeated calls for regional and subregional organisations to develop policies for the benefit of war-affected children.

References

External links

*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
{{UNSCR 2003 1467 West Africa March 2003 events 2003 in Africa

Declaration

See also

References

External links