National SALW Commissions and Civil Society (2009)

Here I will consider the SALW situation with regard to ECOWAS and West Africa

National Commissions and Civil Society

The National Commissions (or Focal Points) have emerged as a strong structure for confronting the small arms issue, but their actual activity has been disappointing. Too often the NatCom has become a garage for a colonel who remains in post for a decade or more, fulfilling a bureaucratic function rather than leading a campaign. In the few cases where NatComs have been active in campaigning against small arms, the initiative and resources have been provided by civil society.

In West Africa, Oxfam (and not ECOWAS or ECOSAP) has been driving force in supporting the Moratorium and campaigning in favour of an Arms Trade Treaty. It is in the places where Oxfam’s resources and leadership have allowed civil society to take initiatives, that the NatComs are most active and most effective. It is difficult to find in West Africa any activity that was initiated by a Focal Point. with the exception of Niger, where the NatCom and a group of parliamentarians are the leaders in fighting illegal SALW.

CSOs are pretty efficient, but they have their limits. Opportunistic by nature, they do a lot with very little, presenting ideas (often supplied by IANSA ) and pursuing their lobbying mission. The partnership between Oxfam and ECOSAP has allowed CSOs to develop a coherent campaign reinforcing their mutual capacities and efficiency. This synergy is seen in the IANSA* regional NGO coalition known as WAANSA and its partnership with ECOSAP**.

(*International Action Network on Small Arms www.iansa.org provides updated information on SALW and on international efforts related to SALW and armed violence through newsletters, policy papers and through its excellent website to around 800 civil society organisations in 100 countries.

**ECOWAS Small Arms Programme, the SALW operational part of ECOWAS based in Bamako.)

Capacity building of NatComs is happening through the action of civil society. The best NatComs in fact have a civil society membership. Colonel Meissa Niang (Senegalese Gendarmerie and permanent secretary of the NatCom which includes three CSO representatives) says that ‘Civil society keeps us on our toes and makes us efficient.” In ECOWAS countries it is invariably civil society that briefs parliament, organises provincial conferences, cross-border meetings, and educational campaigns. The NatCom brings to these CSO activities the support of numerous national ministries. This synergistic partnership is a Concept the IfS can support.

Civil Society, Second Pillar of the African State

The importance of civil society organisations (CSO) is often underestimated. They have played a huge role in Latin American political and economic development, and are a dominant force in the socio-economic development of countries like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (but not in Nepal or Burma or Afghanistan). In Africa they ran society for thousands of years.

Africa has both creative tension and synergy between "modern" civil society (largely a product of the urban environment) and "traditional" civil society composed of village councils, hunters' associations, environmental-management units, age-groups for both men and women, initiation and mutual self-help. Community-based organisations (CBO) span both: the modern farmers’ association has roots in the community while it functions in the mercantile economy. International NGOs either strengthen CBOs, or find themselves in destructive competition.

Only through CSOs and the social economy can women express themselves in society, even in Europe. Although women hold a pre-eminent place in West African family and clan structure, the basic unit of traditional civil society, their ideas are seldom heard in regional and national politics which occupy a different social and political space. Changing times require changing habits and a greater place for the female voice in socio-political debate. This is a Concept for IfS to consider.

For millennia, Africa (especially West Africa) was largely ruled through civil society and forms of decentralised democratic governance, until the colonial era introduced a centralised, military regime. Below the king, the village council was the key governance mechanism in much of Africa (though nomadic societies were run differently). The decentralisation movements of recent years (in Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Burkina…) have been led by leaders seeking to escape from the centralised colonial model. Power has devolved to communes, to farmer syndicates, local saving banks, women’s associations….

African civil servants are not usually keen supporters of civil society. They see CSOs (especially CBOs) as troublemakers. Politicians and civil servants are confused by hearing too many voices. CSOs allow ordinary citizens to participate in the daily life of a nation. You can have too many soldiers and too many civil servants, or too many foreigners and too many locusts, but you cannot have too many associations in a democratic society. Civil Society is one of five pillars supporting the modern West African state, alongside the Executive, the Legislature, Security Forces and the Judiciary. The other four work properly – working in a transparent fashion and respecting the boundaries of good governance - only if civil society is strong and organized and refuses to be ignored.