The Briefing Paper from the Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) project examines the capacities of different actors to monitor illicit arms flows in the Sahel region. Monitoring illicit arms flows is critical to measuring states’ progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—especially Target 16.4, which calls for a significant reduction of illicit arms flows by 2030.

Le monitoring des armes au Sahel: les institutions forensiques nationales, une Note d'information du projet Évaluation de la sécurité en Afrique du Nord (SANA), analyse les capacités et les pratiques des institutions forensiques de trois États du Sahel francophone – la Mauritanie, le Niger et le Tchad – qui comptent, parmi leur personnel, des experts particulièrement compétents sur la question des armes à feu et des munitions à l’échelle locale.

Criminals purchase weapons unable to fire live ammunition legally and at low costs across Europe, converting them into lethal firearms with little to no training or expertise. The Small Arms Survey report From Legal to Lethal: Converted Firearms in Europe provides a detailed examination on the topic.
 

This Report from the Small Arms Survey’s Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) project examines insecurity, terrorism, and trafficking in Niger.The Sahel hosts multiple conflicts with myriad armed actors destabilizing the entire region. Positioned at the heart of this region, Niger sits at the crossroads of terrorism, trafficking, and conflict.  

In April 2014, someone discovered a ‘gift from God’ in northern Niger: large quantities of gold, easily accessible using basic equipment. The gold rush began, and with it came a transformation of the security, political, and socio-economic dynamics in this vast and sensitive region. The population suddenly increased fifty-fold, and the number of vehicles circulating in the region grew even more than that.

Available in:  ARABIC | ENGLISH

• Learn more about the Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) project

Measuring Illicit Arms Flows: Ukraine is the fourth case study in a series examining the measurement of illicit arms flows in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 16.

The Small Arms Survey has released a study on the challenges of monitoring illicit small arms flows in Honduras. Measuring Illicit Arms Flows: Honduras notes how understanding these challenges can help develop suitable indicators for measuring progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal Target 16.4, which commits states to ‘significantly reduce illicit. . . arms flows’ by 2030.

In recent years illicit arms flows have been given significant attention at the global level, culminating in September 2015 with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, more specifically, SDG Target 16.4, which commits states to significantly reduce illicit arms flows by 2030.