BICC Regional Training on physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) in Nigeria
This Physical Security and Stockpile Management (PSSM) Regional Competence Building Seminar is part of a long-term engagement and initial five-year programme of work aiming at developing regional expertise and capacities in the field of PSSM in West Africa. It was conducted under the project “Capacity development and advice on SALW control in Africa”, launched in 2018 and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO). Participants were drawn from the armed forces or police/gendarmerie services from across the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region. For the Instructor training, 10 Instructor Candidates from 8 different ECOWAS Member States attended. Among the 20 students who took part in the basic training, 13 out of 15 ECOWAS Member States were represented. Most participants are tasked with weapons and ammunition as well as depot management in their respective services. The training included two broad areas, namely general as well as ammunition-centred topics. The general ones comprised of Stockpile Elimination, MANPADS Threat, external as well as internal Physical Security, Arms Security, SALW Marking and Tracing as well as Emergency Planning & Response. Additionally, a module on Transport was included in the curriculum as well. The ammunition topics included Ammunition Basics, the Net Explosive Weight Hazard, Ammunition Marking and Painting, the UN Hazard Classification System, Ammunition Compatibility, Ammunition Storage as well as Inventory Management.
The project “Capacity development and advice on SALW control in Africa”, launched in 2018 and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO), focusses on supporting national and regional bodies in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and West Africa in the field of small arms and light weapons control (SALW) and physical security and stockpile management (PSSM). BICC’s aim is to strengthen the capacities of regional partners (African Union, RECSA, ECOWAS, SARCOM and PRESCOM) in the field of small arms control and PSSM and to link advisory activities with training programmes at the national and regional levels. The project also aims to support the African Union in the implementation of its Silencing the Guns Plan of Action and ECOWAS in the implementation of the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons. Activities undertaken in support of these work strands are aimed at the national (e.g. reactivation of national Small Arms Commissions) and regional levels (e.g. regional PSSM course with a Train-the-Trainers component) and are facilitated by BICC advisors seconded to our partner organisations. Equally, BICC lends support to RECSA to facilitate and coordinate small arms control efforts within RECSA member states, including a regional PSSM course with a Train-the-Trainers component.
