The NEWS (Monrovia)
8 July 2004
Monrovia — The availability of small arms has reportedly increased the level of global violence with at least 500,000 deaths every year and a million injured by the use of small arms and light weapons.
These casualties occur in wars by combatants or civilians or as victims of crime, oppression, suicide or communal violence.
This tragic state of affairs was highlighted in observance of the Global Action Week Against the proliferation of Small Arms.
The Liberia Action Network on Small Arms (LANSA) has therefore observed that the menace of small arms is a serious setback to human security and development, and has thus challenged arms producers to convert these deadly weapons into productive tools in order to make the Millennium Development Goal achievable.
Quoting UNICEF's estimate on conflict in the 90's, LANSA said about 2 million children died in armed conflict while 300,000 were conscripted as child solders. These situations are mostly prevalent in the world's poorest regions including Africa.
In a release Wednesday, LANSA viewed small arms availability as being responsible for the prolonged violence in West Africa.
According to the release, "West Africa has about 8 million small arms in circulation. The destruction of lives, properties, separation of families and the thousands of people made refugees in the sub region are the direct result of conflict characterized by Small Arms."
LANSA believes the crises in Liberia, and other countries are part of the entrenched socio-political anomalies that are characteristics of African States.
The Liberia Action Network on Small Arms also holds the conviction that in order to prevent the trend towards violence and warfare, policies and appropriate mechanism that lead to the reduction in the demand of arms must be addressed including endemic poverty, impunity, bad governance, social, political and religious marginalization.
Meanwhile, LANSA has hailed the international community for restoring sanity to Liberia and called for partnership in the DDRR process for peace and stability in Liberia.
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