Monograph 95: Guns in the Borderlands. Reducing the Demand for Small Arms, Taya Weiss
Illegal small arms proliferation and trafficking in
Africa happens in a context far removed from traditional definitions of
the state and state control. Where marginalized communities form part
of ‘unofficial’ economies, conflict easily thrives under the
policy-making radar. Local peace building groups have grown as a
grassroots opposing force to ‘low-level’ conflict, offering conflict
resolution and small arms demand reduction strategies where more
ambitious state-sponsored projects fail. There is currently a lack of
dialogue between governments that regulate small arms and the local
peace builders who reduce the demand for them, although such
communication can pave the way to new forms of human security. Policy
makers and donors can learn from the challenges and realities of small
arms work in areas outside of traditional government control to plan
interventions that fall on the spectrum between the more common
supply-side regulation and emergency response.
This research examines local peace building and small arms demand
reduction work at the organization level in five diverse areas of Kenya.
By looking at strategies, challenges, and successes of community-based
organizations, NGOs, and local peace committees, and juxtaposing them
with the successes and failures of relevant policy, a gap in demand-side
measures at the policy level becomes evident. Demand-based
interventions diverge from what one NGO fieldworker called
“traditionally despotic” measures of addressing gun proliferation and
allow more creative security policies with the potential to shrink gun
markets from the bottom up.
Factors fuelling the demand for guns include identity-based conflict,
availability, economies on the margins, and lack of education and
development. Mainstreaming small arms reduction and awareness into other
areas of government and policy will be the first step towards
alleviating the major factors driving small-scale gun economies.
Governments and donors can:
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provide alternative economies through stimulus projects and
development,
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create and promote school and adult education curricula based on proactive conflict resolution and peace building,
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integrate adult literacy drives into disarmament initiatives, and
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fund cross-cultural and youth activities that divert potential
gun users from violence. Some communities have succeeded in decreasing
the buyer side of the market on a local scale using variations on these
ideas, indicating that partnerships between local peace builders and
policy-level decision-makers could effect even more widespread change.
