SLANSA says No to gun violence
June 8, 2017
The Sierra Leone Action Network on Small Arms (SLANSA) yesterday joined their counterparts across the world to commemorate this year’s Global Week Against Gun Violence and used the occasion to launch a baseline survey report on encouraging blacksmiths to seek further training in alternative livelihood skills to illicit weapons, as well re-echoed its stance against gun violence in Sierra Leone.
Addressing the press at their Young Women Christian Association’s Old Hall Office on Brookfields in Freetown, Coordinator of the organisation, Ms.Adenike Cole said the week is a time members and friends of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), campaign against the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
She observed that Sierra Leone as a post war country has suffered immensely from the use of small arms, stating that even though the war has been declared over, the physical scars still remain.
“At the moment we face a situation of violence amongst young people and we use this time to say NO to the use of guns,” she said.
Madam Cole said they recognised efforts made by the Sierra Leone Small Arms Commission in ensuring that all arms must be registered.
“As such, we now encourage blacksmiths alternative to producing illicit firearms as well as sensitise those who wish to continue to produce firearms to register them with SLeNCSA,” she said.
She disclosed that the United Nations Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms and Regulations provided SLANSA with funds to engage blacksmiths for a period of two years and that the initial stage of the project constitutes the survey that was conducted by the organisation.
“The research has made us follow up on blacksmiths to identify them and determine what are their products, as well as encourage those who wish to produce guns to work closely with SLeNCSA, and also, where possible, provide linkages for the trade of goods produce more so for agricultural implements,” she said.
The survey, she said, was conducted in Kailahun,Kono,Kenema,Bo,Bombali,Moyamba and Western Area Urban and Rural, adding that it targeted blacksmiths, who were previously trained, while they identified others who were new in the trade.
Madam Cole continued that the key objectives of the survey included identifying gunsmiths, who do not want to stop producing firearms as well as encouraging them to register with the Small Arms Commission, and to ascertain whether the blacksmiths have markets, workshops, materials and adequate modern tools to do their work.
Some of the findings, she said, include gender parity among targeted blacksmiths and that majority of them are male, adding that majority of them were active in the trade.
She said blacksmiths mostly produce guns for commercial purposes as well as for security reasons and that there was willingness for them to stop producing guns, should they have alternative livelihood skills.
In the area of market, she said over 50 percent of them complained of poor market for their goods produced.
“This could be a threat if the production of arms seems to be more lucrative. This might lead to its proliferation which will be a threat to peace in our beloved country,” she said.
The organisation, she said, recommended among other things, the provision of improved tools to manufacture, because the current tools used by blacksmiths, although modern, were manually operated.
They also recommended the provision of training opportunities for alternative livelihood skills, establish a stronger link between the guns smiths and the National Commission of Small Arms, particularly on the aspect of follow ups, and put a ban on the sale of scrap metals required by blacksmiths to produce.
The organization further recommended the formation of a National Blacksmiths Association that would seek the welfare of those practising the trade.