Mozambique, still considered one of the poorest countries in the world, is at the forefront of the movement aiming to curb the availability of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the Southern African region. In August 2001 Mozambique signed the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on the Control of Firearms, Ammunition and other Related Materials, aimed at preventing and controlling through regional mechanisms the illicit trade of SALW in the region, and ratified its commitment in September 2002.

This regional commitment is part of a continuum of efforts to disarm Mozambican society. When Mozambique signed the SADC Protocol, there were two very successful disarmament initiatives already ongoing in the country—the government-led Operation Rachel and the civil society-led project TAE, trading tools for firearms.

This monograph tries to provide an overview of the several approaches to disarmament in Mozambique and analyse the different steps required for the implementation of the SADC Protocol—where there is complementarity, where there is duplication of efforts, what is in place and what has to be put in place.

This study of Mozambique forms part of a larger research project being undertaken in several countries in Southern Africa to identify the challenges facing countries as they undertake to implement regional and international commitments on small arms. The Institute for Security Studies is supporting these research efforts, which are being coordinated by the Centre for Conflict Resolution (South Africa) and Gun-free South Africa.

The introduction looks at the historical determinants for the proliferation of SALW in the region, and in particular in Mozambique, giving a brief account of the several conflicts that plagued the country for the past 30 years. It also presents the methodology used for this monograph and the constraints this approach posed.

Chapter 1 analyses the three different approaches to disarmament in Mozambique in terms of their legacies to the country. ONUMOZ, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mozambique, was the first approach to disarmament in Mozambique. This chapter looks at the constraints and at the political choices of the time and at the impact those choices had on the security situation in Mozambique. This is followed by a brief analysis of the two ongoing disarmament programmes—Operation Rachel and the Christian Council of Mozambique’s project TAE—Tools for Arms.

Chapter 2 argues that disarmament is but an element of the broader concern of human security. As such, disarmament initiatives should not be isolated from the operation of the overall security sector. This chapter looks at several of the security sector institutions, such as police and armed forces, their legacies, their problems, their needs, and how they can contribute to the implementation of the SADC Protocol on Firearms, which will be overseen by a multi-institutional committee on small arms (COPREACAL).

Chapter 3 looks at the opportunities and challenges facing Mozambique in the implementation of the SADC Firearms Protocol, as well as the challenges facing in the country in sustaining its efforts to reduce the availability and use of small arms.

Chapter 4 presents the findings of a survey carried out in Chimoio (northern Mozambique) on the impact of SALW in the communities. Annex 1 contains the survey questionnaire. The concluding section of the monograph presents some of the opportunities in Mozambique to continue its efforts to reduce weapons availability and implement regional agreements on managing small arms.