The use of small arms is omnipresent throughout all wars in Africa. Available to all, small arms cause enormous devastation, leading the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, to describe them as “weapons of mass destruction.” Since 2001, African countries have been making a real effort to develop suitable legal instruments to control small arms but this meeting of minds has not yet been followed by any impact on the ground. GRIP has acquired recognised expertise in this field and is expanding the work of its partners in Africa.

GRIP has been working with a series of processes at regional and sub-regional level through various projects and expertise:

- Regional SALW regulations (ECOWAS, ECCAS and RECSA);
- Harmonisation of national SALW regulations;
- Implementing the international traceability instrument in Africa;
- Supporting national and regional civil society networks in their work to prevent the proliferation of SALW;
- Case studies on the circulation of SALW and munitions.

Since 2001, GRIP has been coordinating RAFAL (the French-Speaking African Network on Small Arms, Conflict Prevention and Peace-building). RAFAL is involved in exchange of information, research, training, publication and distribution in order to strengthen civil society capacity in French-speaking Africa, aiming to improve common knowledge about the proliferation of small arms in order to prevent conflicts and build peace in Africa. The network currently has more than 80 members.

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