The project “Supporting small arms and light weapons (SALW) control in Africa” started in April 2021 and is funded by the German federal Foreign Office (GFFO). It aims at continuing providing support to the African Union its Regional Economic Communities, Regional Bodies and Member States to coordinate and implement arms control measures on a strategical, technical and policy level. Therefore, BICC is working with the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA) and the Khartoum-based Sub Regional Small Arms Control Mechanism (SARCOM) as well as some of their member states to support the implementation of international and regional small arms control instruments such as the United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (UN PoA),the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the African Union Silencing the Guns Plan of Action, the Nairobi Protocol and the ECOWAS Convention.

Its efforts range from harmonizing national small arms control legislation and guidelines with international and regional instruments, through capacity building along the entire spectrum of weapons and ammunition management, including marking, record keeping, tracing, and destruction of weapons and ammunition, as well as physical security and stockpile management (PSSM), to cross-border cooperation on small arms control.