DC/2726

‘FLAME OF PEACE’ LIT IN AGADEZ, NIGER

NEW YORK, 9 October (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- On 25 September in the remote sub-Saharan city of Agadez, in central Niger, some 1,300 guns were set afire in a great “Flame of Peace” ceremony, symbolizing the formal end of the armed rebellion and the commitment of the country to reconciliation and peace. In a message sent to the ceremony, the Secretary-General applauded Niger’s return to democracy through multiparty presidential and legislative elections in November 1999 and said he was encouraged by the commitment of various parties to implementing peace agreements, including the deepening dialogue with civil society and with traditional authorities. The current President of the country, Mamadou Tandja, was elected 10 months ago by general elections that were considered free and fair by most observers.

Tuareg movement rebels who had waged a war against Niger in the early 1990s surrendered the guns that were set aflame. Starting in 1995, a series of internal peace accords began the slow process of national reconciliation. The Flame of Peace ceremony, attended by many international dignitaries, including the heads of State of Chad and Sierra Leone, was another sign of the growing trust between the people and the Government. It also became a plea for help in developing this country of extreme poverty as a way of enhancing national security.

The United Nations is supporting the disarmament momentum in Niger brought about by the peace process. In October 1998, Niger joined the rest of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in signing the three-year moratorium on the importation, exportation and manufacture of small arms and light weapons in the region. It has appointed a National Commission for the Monitoring and Collection of Illicit Arms to implement the Moratorium and to act as focal point for national and regional efforts coordinated by the Moratorium’s follow-up mechanism, the Programme for Coordination and Assistance for Security and Development. Upon request, the United Nations dispatched an inter-agency fact-finding mission in August 2000 to determine the best means of initiating an arms collection programme in the region of N’Guigmi, east of Niamey, the capital. Similar to the successful arrangements carried out in Gramsh, Albania in 1999, the pilot weapons collection project in N’Guigmi would involve the handing in of surplus civilian weapons in exchange for development projects in the region. As a result of the mission, the United Nations Development Programme will shortly conduct an identification mission to the region to further develop a project to lower the number of weapons available, increase security and offer community-based employment and income-generating development projects to the people.

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