The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Ebrima Jaw Manneh
20 May 2006
At least 10,000 Gambian faces have been targeted for inclusion in the Million Face Petition of the ongoing Control of Arms Campaign.
In The Gambia, West African Network for Peace Building (Wanep)- The Gambia is teaming up with the Oxfam, Amnesty and IANSA to collect photos and self-portraits of people in order to demonstrate to governments the need for "effective and urgent" action to control the arms trade, as well as present the target of one million faces around the world as a powerful visual message for enticing world's governments to sign up to a global Arms Trade Treaty.
Pamela Cole, Director of Wanep, said the mass movement seeks the support of The Gambia in order to sign up the Arms Trade Treaty, the Ecowas Convention on the Importation, Exportation and Transfer of Weapons, as well as the UN Protocol on Fire Fire Arms.
Ms Cole then added: "We need to support the campaign because The Gambia is a peaceful country. But we are surrounded by other countries going through conflict. Supporting the campaign means a preventive peace building measure. It is a precautionary measure."
She then disclosed that at least 630 million illegal weapons were in circulation, saying that at least eight million were in West Africa.
The Wanep Director, Cole then stressed on the urgency for the regularisation of the global arms trade treaty, while urging the Gambian populace to express solidarity by cooperating with the volunteers who will be deployed in the communities next week to sample out the photos and signatures of individuals to join the million face petition.
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