It was with a rallying cry to ‘silence the guns’ that the project for the “Voluntary surrender of weapons and ammunition held by the population” was officially launched in the Central African Republic (CAR) by Head of State Faustin Archange Toudera on Friday, 25 September 2020 at the Martyrs Avenue public square in Bangui.

The initiative, led by the National Commission to Combat the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (COMNAT) and part of the national Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration efforts supported by MINUSCA, was kicked off in the presence of members of the CAR government, representatives of the diplomatic corps and international organizations including the African Union, the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) and the Regional Center on Small Arms (RECSA).

The UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Deputy Head of MINUSCA Lizbeth Cullity described the project launch as an extension of both the International Day of Peace 2020, recently celebrated under the theme “Shaping Peace Together” and of “Amnesty Month” – an African Union campaign marked in September each year since 2017, to encourage citizens to reduce the illicit circulation of arms on the continent by handing them over to authorities without risk of prosecution.

“Today’s launch is a call to the civilian population in Bangui and the neighbouring municipalities of Bimbo and Begoua to voluntarily give up the illegal weapons in their midst to promote peace and security,” explained Jean-Vincent Mbenda, COMNAT Director of Communication.

Several speakers at the ceremony outlined the myriad negative consequences of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, including the loss of life of an estimated 3,000 Central Africans. Illegal weapons fuel conflict, instability, armed violence and crime and pose a serious threat to security, the social cohesion of communities and socio-economic development.

The project, which comes on the heels of the adoption of the law on the “the General Regime on Conventional Arms, their Parts and Components and Ammunition” by the CAR national authorities on 7 August 2020, aims to align national legislation with international standards on arms regulation – with arms control and the security of civilians as key objectives. 

Raising awareness among the population on their responsibilities and obligations was highlighted as key to the success of the project. Similarly, the involvement of all sections of the population was identified as crucial.

“This fight can only be effective if all active forces are closely associated with it. We need to capitalize on the potential of women and young people, who are often in the front line of such violence, to become agents of change,” emphasized Lizbeth Cullity while reiterating the continued support of the United Nations for the establishment of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the strategy of the National Commission to Combat the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

A pile of arms was set on fire at the end of the ceremony – a symbolic gesture signifying the all-important mission to destroy all illegal arms that will be collected, a key part of the project.

The message is simple, according to the CAR Head of State: “As long as guns are not silent in our neighbourhoods and our streets, the young generation of our country will continue to suffer – the voluntary surrender of arms represents the free movement of people and goods, the return of State Authority and ultimately the return of peace and security.”