During 1997 the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), together with the Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud (IFAS) and the Université de La Réunion (ULR), initiated discussions on the holding of a conference on the effects of small arms availability on violence in Africa and the means of controlling the proliferation of illicit small arms. The challenge of incorporating participation from francophone, lusophone and anglophone countries was soon recognised and it was decided to hold the conference outside of Africa, as a means of fostering a wider range of interactions among the participants and allowing for some distance between the continent under scrutiny and the discussions. Thus, the offer of the Université de La Réunion to host the conference was accepted and the decision made to expand the focus of the meeting to include the region of the Indian Ocean. The conference, Controlling small arms proliferation and reversing cultures of violence in Africa and the Indian Ocean, emerged as the result of a tripartite initiative by the three organisations who have a common interest in improving franco-anglophone interactions on strategic issues and human security concerns in Africa and the Indian Ocean.

The island of La Réunion thus became the venue for the conference. A département d’outre mer (DOM) of France, La Réunion has a long, interesting history and provided a stimulating environment for conference participants. The conference brought together officials from regional organisations with mandates for disarmament and security co-operation in Africa, and experts on issues related to the possibilities for control and reduction of light weapons proliferation in the region, Africanists and experts on arms control. These included representatives from Europe, West, Central and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean, in addition to representatives from the EU, UNESCO and Interpol.

The conference was divided into five sessions: three defined the nature and extent of the problem and the structures that could be used to control the proliferation of light weapons; the other two took the form of discussion sessions on possible steps for enhancing the capabilities of existing regional structures and improving interactions and co-operation to reduce the prevalence of illicit weapons trafficking in Africa and countries of the Indian Ocean. The projected output of the conference, detailed in the concluding section of this report, was the putting into place of a network (both electronic and paper) to improve communications and interactions between anglophone, francophone and lusophone agencies, governments, scholars, institutes and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), with equal areas of concern in the African and Indian Ocean regions.

This report serves as an English and French language summary of the meeting. The conference organisers thank the governments of Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as the the Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud, the Université de La Réunion and the Région Réunion for their financial assistance in funding this conference. We especially thank Mr Laurent Sermet of the law department of the Université de La Réunion for his assistance in organising the conference.