In order to help better manage the processes of collection, management and destruction of firearms and ammunition by the Police of the Republic of Mozambique and its Customs Authorities, UNDP Mozambique’s Small Arms Control Project, in cooperation with the HALO Trust, is providing three back to back courses from 26^th  July to 13^th  August for 70 officers including 8 women.

Areas of instruction include how best to store state and seized weapons in police armories; how to destroy firearms and ammunition in a safe and secure manner and finally how to address finds of unguarded, concealed stores of firearms, munitions and ordnance. The courses were made up of theoretical and practical classes and also included the rehabilitation of three police armories to international standards. The three rehabilitated armories will act as a model for other police stations and a also were a means of demonstrating in situ the physical and non physical security systems that which training participants will look to put into practice in their own police stations.

Training participants acknowledged the value not only of the technical skills learned during the training but also the opportunity to meet with other officers carrying out the same work in other police stations: “Now we have a network of colleagues and we will keep in touch to build on the experience we have gained this week” said Boniface de Silva, head of the armory at the Superior Training School.

This three course training package, funded by UNDP Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Recovery and UNDP Mozambique forms part of the Small Arms Control activities initiated in 2008 under its project with the Government of Mozambique, “Weapons Risk Mitigation and Mainstreaming Mine Action, Small Arms & Light Weapons Controls 2008-2011”. This UNDP – Government project  responds to the increasing levels of armed violence in Mozambique which not only destroy lives, but also damage infrastructure and property, limit the delivery of public services and undermine investment in human, social and economic capital.

Armed assaults committed by criminals against private citizens, economic and social infrastructure as well as law enforcement officers, threaten the peaceful state of Mozambique. Moreover, each crime perpetrated gives an impression, internally and externally that our country is insecure and perpetuates the perceived need for citizens to arm themselves. It is therefore increasingly important that the state’s own weapons are safely managed and those that are obsolete and present a security threat to communities are destroyed where necessary.

Recognizing the links between armed violence and development, the Government of Mozambique signed the 2006 Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development and the 2010 Oslo Commitments on Armed Violence and the Millennium Development Goals.

Photo: HALO Trust Aurelio Chuculia teaches the students verification drills for unloading weapons before they are either returned to the armoury or destroyed.