LILONGWE—Slowly but surely Malawi in on the way to become a gun-free society, the National Focal Point on Small Arms (NFP) has observed.

Undule Mwakasungula, NFP’s chairperson, made the observation Friday during consultative meetings on National Action Plan on Small Arms.

While the implementation and control of small arms was a challenge for some countries, he said Malawi was moving in the right direction to make it a gun-free nation. He attributed the success to good partnership between government and the civil society.

“We all know that security is a key concern of every community. Violence and threats generated by armed gangs or criminals, vigilantes and armies of Non – State Actors have destabilized many countries and regions.  
 
“Violence and insecurity increases the demand for arms and ammunitions among civilians. It is therefore the responsibility of communities to break the cycle of violence and use of small arms and light weapons control as a practical tool for peace building,” said Mwakasungula, who is also the chairperson for Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation.

He said the civil society’s participation in the National Focal Point has been a key factor in promotion of human rights, governance, peace and security.

“Civil Societies in Malawi have an important role to play in contributing positively to addressing the small arms problem. It is an open secret to say that we have achieved a lot in this partnership namely; Law review of the Firearms Act, National Policy on SALW, Awareness Building, Mobilization, Training, Research and Analysis on the scope of the small arms problem, and the actual establishment of the National Focal Point just to mention a few,” he said.

This, he said, was an indication that much as they differ on other national issues, civil society organisations and government are partners in development and in the promotion of human rights, peace and security.
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