Det danske Fredsakademi

Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 4. Oktober 2004 / Time Line October 4, 2004

3. Oktober, 5. Oktober

10/04/2004
AFRICA: Officials discuss strategy to control small arms
Integrated Regional Information Network
www.irinnews.org
KAMPALA - Some 100 officials from 39 African countries started a five-day meeting in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, on Monday to discuss the threat that small arms pose to human security and development across the continent.
"Africa has been ravaged by many conflicts. Most of these conflicts were fought primarily using small arms and light weapons that pose one of the greatest challenge of our time," Ugandan Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said in a speech he read on behalf of President Yoweri Museveni.
According to Rugunda, more than 20 percent of sub-Sahara's population had been directly affected by civil wars during the 1990s. He said conflicts in Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda had claimed the lives of millions of innocent civilians.
Conflicts across the continent had also destroyed the livelihoods of tens of millions, he said, quoting the 2000 UN Development Programme Human Development Index, which showed that 20 out of the 34 lowest-ranking countries had been severely affected by conflicts.
"In Africa at least 22 countries experienced civil strife and 11 were convulsed by violent political crisis during the year 2002," Rugunda said. He noted that all 31 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries and the 113 countries in the medium development categories had not been affected by war.

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