West Africa Has a Small Weapons Crisis
CISR
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(The Conversation) Small arms and light weapons account for most of the African continent’s conflict-related deaths. An estimated 100 million light weapons circulate in Africa. About 8 million are in the hands of non-state actors in west Africa.
In 1998 the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) established the world’s first small arms and light weapons moratorium. It became a legally binding convention in 2006.