Abuja - Nigeria — Delegates to the just-ended regional Abuja Roundtable on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) negotiations have reiterated support for the ECOWAS Common Position (ECP) on the Treaty, especially the provision to curb indiscriminate circulation of arms and associated armed violence and abuse that threaten peace in the society. ECOWAS Defence and Security Ministers in 2010 adopted the ECP which among key points, frowned against irresponsible transfer of arms as well as the inclusion of ammunition in the scope of the Treaty.

The ECP insists that the transfer of conventional arms to entities out of State control should be subject to prohibition in any future treaty, and also canvassed the recognition of Regional Economic Communities and the definition of their roles. The 21-22 February 2013 Roundtable at the ECOWAS Commission, Abuja, was called to ensure that Member States and Civil Society Organizations in the region identified language in the draft ATT text that could be preserved or improved upon in order to advance the ECP, ahead of the March 2013 negotiations in New York, to facilitate an ATT agreement. Another key objective of the meeting is to help raise public awareness amongst ECOWAS Member States and citizens about the process, towards arriving at a mutually agreeable treaty. Addressing the delegates, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs. Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman noted that some "elements critical for the ECOWAS region" were absent from the draft report of the ATT currently in circulation.

These include the "absence of reference to Non-State actors and their role in the illicit circulation and misuse of conventional arms," as well as the need to ensure that the ATT recognizes the role of Regional Economic Communities such as ECOWAS and the incorporation of ammunition in the scope of the ATT. Commissioner Suleiman expressed gratitude to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the British High Commission for providing technical support and funding, respectively, for the meeting. Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs represented by Ambassador Ali Ocheni welcomed the delegates to the meeting, which he described as another opportunity to ensure the passage of a robust ATT, and reaffirmed Nigeria's support to the process. In his opening remarks, Mr. Baffour Amoa, President of the West African Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA) highlighted the importance of the meeting and the urgent need to develop and accept binding international standards to regulate international arms transfers.

He said the cost of irresponsible arms transfers was alarming and called for urgent concerted action to agree an ATT under the UN umbrella. Mr. Amoa said the Treaty should reinforce the efficacy of the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Their Ammunition and Other Related Materials, adopted by the Authority of Heads of State and Government in 2006, and which entered into force in 2009. Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. Giles Lever, who represented the British High Commission, recalled that it was the United Kingdom which introduced the resolution at the UN in December 2006 calling on Member States to agree a global Arms Trade Treaty. He highlighted the human cost of the misuse of transferred weapons and the diversion of arms to organized criminals, terrorist and other illegal armed groups, and urged delegates to "strike the right balance between the strength of the text and the breadth of support."

The technical session of the meeting, among others, discussed key elements of the July 2012 draft Treaty text, the scope of weapons and transactions covered in the draft ATT; prohibitions and arms transfer criteria in the draft text; implementation provisions in the draft text and potential strategies towards, during and after the March 2013 Diplomatic Conference on an ATT. Delegates to the Abuja Roundtable were drawn from Ministries of Foreign Affairs, representatives of WAANSA, the World Council of Churches, Oxfam, the Diplomatic Community, and the ECOWAS Commission. The Nigerian and Ivorian Permanent Missions to the UN were also represented.