From 18-19 January 2012, the Secretariat of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) hosted the 5th meeting of the African Union‐Regions Steering Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in Gaborone, Botswana. The meeting was attended by members of the AU Regions Steering Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons, including the Community of Sahelo‐Saharan States (CEN‐SAD), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), SADC, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), and the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA). The European Union Delegation to the AU, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) were also represented at the meeting. The main objective of the meeting was to agree on action areas for the implementation of the African Union (AU) Strategy on the Control of Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of SALW. Participants discussed the need for a strong coordination in interdiction and seizure in the fight against illicit SALW. In addition, they also stressed the importance to strengthen the legal frameworks of their countries to control possession of SALW, to keep record of civilian and state‐owned stocks, to develop mechanisms for marking, verification and change of ownership tracking,  and weapons collection and destruction.