This report documents the findings of the first ever national assessment of small arms prevalence and impacts in Nigeria. The National Small Arms and Light Weapons Survey (NSALWS), implemented in 2016 by Nigeria’s Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PRESCOM), was conducted to better understand the prevalence, proliferation, perception, use and impacts of small arms in Nigeria. The Small Arms Survey supported PRESCOM on survey methodology and analysis, and with the provision of training on survey methods specific to small arms.

636 incidents of Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites (UEMS) took place between 1979 and December 2021, resulting in 30,883 casualties (deaths and injuries), reveals the newest update of the Small Arms Survey UEMS database. The database tracks the frequency and destructive impact of UEMS incidents—defined as the accidental explosion of abandoned, damaged, improperly stored, or properly stored stockpiles of ammunition and explosives at munitions sites.

This blog post was published as part of the Global Partnership on Small Arms project, which was managed by the Small Arms Survey and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

The Global Partnership on Small Arms was a platform where stakeholders engaged in reducing or preventing illicit arms trafficking were able to interact; exchange information, experience, and knowledge; and give feedback to further their shared goals.

The Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) Expert Briefings are a 5-part webinar series that is taking place (almost) every Tuesday from 11 May until 15 June 2021 at 2pm Geneva time. Each live webinar briefing features one of our SANA experts addressing contemporary security issues in North Africa and Sahel-Sahara region, and reflecting on the questions received from the audience.

Two years have passed since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) ended the second North–South Sudanese civil war, yet no quantitative assessment of safety and security has been undertaken in South Sudan. Understanding of the role played by small arms and light weapons in insecurity is similarly limited. Measuring changes in the security of communities in South Sudan is essential to evaluating the impacts and consequences of the CPA. The Lakes State Homestead Survey on Safety and Security is the largest known household survey ever conducted in South Sudan.

Although almost three years have passed since the Comprehensive Peace Agree-ment (CPA) ended the second North–South Sudanese civil war (1983–2005), security has not improved demonstrably in many areas of the South. On the assumption that small arms and light weapons are one source of ongoing inse-curity, the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) and the Sudan People’s Lib-eration Army (SPLA) have administered or allowed a series of coercive and voluntary civilian disarmament efforts.

Eastern and Central Equatoria States played distinctive roles in the two Suda-nese civil wars, the effects of which are still reverberating today. The current widespread insecurity, taking the form of tribal and resource-based conflict, armed group activity, and criminal violence, stems largely from shifting alli-ances, South–South conflict, and the politicization of armed groups during the second civil war and its aftermath.

10 Small Arms Survey HSBA Working Paper 14Mc Evoy and Murray Gauging Fear and Insecurity11AbstractEastern Equatoria State in South Sudan and Turkana North District in neigh-bouring Kenya lie in one of the most conflict-prone regions in the East and Horn of Africa, where the use of firearms is endemic. The Small Arms Survey conducted a household survey in this region in mid-2007 to gather data on levels  of  firearm-related  victimization,  and  to  explore  actual  and  perceived security threats as well as attitudes towards disarmament.

For the four-year-old Government of Southern Sudan, 2009 was a punishing year. It struggled to manage multiple financial, governance, and security crises while fighting for implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agree-ment. Looming large were CPA-mandated legislative and executive elections scheduled for April 2010 and a referendum on Southern self-determination in January 2011. For much of the year, tensions between the ruling National Congress Party and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army were high, with mutual recriminations over stalled aspects of the peace process.

Unplanned explosions at munitions sites (UEMS) are accidental explosions of abandoned, damaged, improperly stored, or properly stored stockpiles of ammunition and explosives at munitions sites. UEMS are a persistent and global problem. They are a significant safety concern for the public and a major security challenge for states and societies. Addressing the challenge posed by UEMS requires not only putting in place effective stockpile management practices but also implementing a life-cycle management of ammunition (LCMA) system.