In collaboration with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (SARPCCO), and SADC member states, the Small Arms Survey is supporting efforts to control small arms and light weapons and more effectively reduce illicit arms flows and violent deaths in the SADC region by (a) assisting SADC member states in assessing their national SALW control systems, (b) supporting the development of a regional strategy and action plan, and (c) updating the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Implementation of the SADC Firearms Protocol.
 
The Survey is the 'technical team' for the SADC task team that is tasked during 2020–21 to develop a regional strategy and action plan to prevent and combat illicit firearms, ammunition, and other related material in the Southern African Development Community region and to update the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the implementation of the SADC Firearms Protocol.

The project is made possible through the support of the UN Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation (UNSCAR).