African FM to discuss issues of small arms in Kenya

NAIROBI, April 16 (Xinhua) — Foreign ministers from ten African countries will meet in Kenya next week to discuss problem of proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the region, the Kenyan Foreign Ministry announced here Friday.

The 2nd Ministerial Review Conference of the Nairobi Declaration on the Problem of the Proliferation of Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa, will be held in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi from April 20-21, the ministry said in a statement.

Foreign Ministers from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, the Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya are scheduled to attend the meeting.

The main objective of the review conference, the statement said, will be to peruse and approve two documents prepared by small arms experts during their meeting held last month in Nairobi.

Illicit small arms and light weapons are one of the biggest problems puzzling the African continent. In 2000, foreign ministers of the above-mentioned countries reached a declaration in Kenya, vowing to control the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the region.