Tomorrow (4 September), the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) will convene an open session on the commemoration of the Africa Amnesty Month.

The session will commence with opening remarks from Miguel Bembe, Permanent Representative of Angola to the AU and Chairperson of the PSC for September, followed by a statement from the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security (PAPS), Bankole Adeoye. Representatives of the Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs), Member States, and partners, including the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), may also address the session.

Since 2017, the PSC has held annual sessions to mark Amnesty Month, following the decision of the 29th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly in July 2017. That decision declared September of each year, until 2020, as ‘Africa Amnesty Month’ for the surrender and collection of illegally owned weapons/arms. The 14th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly on Silencing the Guns, held in December 2020, extended the initiative until 2030, aligning it with the duration of the AU Master Roadmap of Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa.

Amnesty Month was launched by the Assembly to provide an opportunity for non-state actors illegally possessing weapons/arms to voluntarily and confidentially surrender them to designated government authorities. According to the decision, individuals who surrender weapons during the Amnesty Month shall not face disclosure, humiliation, arrest, or prosecution.

The decision also urges all Member States, Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs), as well as civil society organisations, to widely publicise Amnesty Month through all media platforms, to observe it each September, and to mobilise citizens to actively support the effort to silence the guns.

During the past few years, the PSC introduced the practice of commemorating the Africa Amnesty Month outside Addis Ababa in Member States. This was done in Lomé, Togo, in 2022, Maputo, Mozambique, in 2023, and Bangui, Central African Republic, in 2024. Although a similar initiative was planned this year under the Amnesty Month framework with a mission to Uganda, it is now expected to take place next month.

While the commemoration of the Africa Amnesty Month is largely symbolic, it serves the purpose of mobilising attention to the threat posed by the circulation and use of small arms and light weapons (SALW) outside of the control of legitimate state authority. The proliferation of SALWs is identified as a major driver of conflicts and insecurity in the AU Roadmap on Practical Steps for STG. It also serves as an occasion for reviewing the implementation of the STG and the challenges that remain, more so given that 2025 marks the halfway point for achieving STG in 2030.

Across Africa, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) continues to threaten peace and security. A 2019 study conducted by the AU Commission and the Small Arms Survey estimated that the continent hosts around 40 million small arms and light weapons. Of these, about 5.8 million are officially registered, while over 16 million remain unregistered.

These weapons are among the primary drivers of violence, frequently used by illegal armed groups and terrorists to initiate and sustain conflicts. According to the Report of the Chairperson of the AU Commission on counterterrorism submitted to the PSC’s 1182nd session, SALW remain the weapon of choice for terrorist groups, accounting for more than 70% of attacks and over 75% of recorded deaths in 2023. The 2019 mapping study on illicit small arms flows in Africa highlights two main sources of illicit weapons on the continent: the diversion of licit arms to unauthorised users, and weapons already illicitly circulating within Africa. The large-scale diversion of national stockpiles amid the crises in Libya, Mali, and CAR has not only intensified conflicts in those countries and beyond but also provided significant material supply for terrorist groups.

Illicit inflows of firearms further aggravate the situation. The study notes a ‘robust trend’ of Middle Eastern states being involved in illicit arms transfers to Africa. Most critically, cross-border trafficking remains the main source of illicit weapons on the continent, worsened by the porous nature of African borders.

To address the challenges posed by small arms and light weapons, the AU Commission and its partners have launched various initiatives under the framework of the Africa Amnesty Month. One such initiative is the joint project between the AU Commission and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) to support Member States in implementing the Africa Amnesty Month. According to UNODA, 13 African countries benefited from this project between 2020 and 2022. These included Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Kenya in 2020; Madagascar, Niger, and Uganda in 2021; and Liberia, Tanzania, and Togo in 2022. As a result, more than 22,000 weapons were reportedly collected and destroyed in these countries. In 2023, Mozambique received support to organise that year’s edition of the AAM, while the Central African Republic, Djibouti, and Rwanda benefited from similar support to commemorate the 2024 edition.

In addition to SALW, Africa is now facing the challenge of the proliferation of new weapons technologies such as drones. These developments are shaping and transforming conflicts. The outlook of the spread of the supply and circulation of SALW and new weapons such as drones is made concerning by the worrying conflict landscape on the continent: the fragmentation and proliferation of armed groups, with the rise of non-state actors—particularly terrorist groups—as central players in Africa’s insecurity, the growing number and geographic spread of conflicts, the intensifying rivalry among both traditional and emerging foreign powers and their deepening meddling in conflicts in different parts of the continent.

These dynamics highlight that the challenges of the spread and use of SALW and other new weapon technologies are not only worsening but also becoming more complex. In this context, Africa Amnesty Month cannot contribute to the STG agenda if pursued in the business-as-usual fashion as it has been done since its adoption in 2017. For it to be effective and meaningful, it also has to serve as an occasion for facilitating concrete action in curbing the flow and use of such weapons in specific conflict situations. This can be achieved practically through an independent report on the sources and channels of supply of arms and weapons to conflict parties, such as that requested by the communiqué of the 1218^th session of the PSC on Sudan.

In addition to the AAM initiative and the production of an independent report identifying the sources and channels of supply of SALW and other new weapons, it must be underscored that addressing small arms and light weapons requires tackling the root causes that fuel their demand. Governance deficits, socio-economic challenges, environmental and climate change, and state failure to provide basic services have all intensified the demand for weapons, necessitating a more holistic and nuanced response.

Although the PSC’s 832nd session emphasised the primary responsibility of Member States in combating illicit arms circulation and preventing weapons from falling into the wrong hands, limited state capacity and porous borders have hampered effective control. Member States are therefore expected to strengthen stockpile management, record keeping, and tracing mechanisms to reduce diversion to non-state actors. The AU Commission, in turn, should work to secure more political commitment from Member States to make Amnesty Month more meaningful through measures identified above, into national frameworks. However, limited reporting by Member States poses a challenge. In this regard, the PSC’s 1105th session in September 2022 directed the Commission to develop a standardised reporting and monitoring template and to conduct five-yearly surveys on illicit weapon collection to generate reliable data on progress. As noted earlier, in relation to situations of conflict, this member state’s reporting has to be supplemented by technical and independent documentation and reporting.

Continental frameworks also require reinforcement. While no legally binding continent-wide instruments exist, political frameworks are in place. The Bamako Declaration of 2000 establishes a common African position on illicit SALW proliferation, circulation and trafficking, strengthening regional and international cooperation. The AU is also guided by the AU Strategy on the Control of Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of SALW. The Common African Position on the Fourth United Nations Conference to Review the Progress Made in the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (adopted at PSC’s 1210th session), and the AU Fellowship Programme on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation launched in July are also recent additional initiatives. While encouraging, these frameworks remain largely political commitments rather than legally binding obligations. It is therefore important to pursue the PSC’s call at its 1105th session for the Commission to explore the development of legally binding instruments on small arms and light weapons management.

The expected outcome is a press statement. The PSC may express concern over the threats posed by SALW and the increasing threat posed by the use of new weapons such as drones in various conflict settings, undermining the effort towards achieving the STG. It may commend recent initiatives of the Commission, including the launch of the AU Fellowship Programme on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, while also following up on earlier requests such as the development of a legally binding instrument on the management of small arms and light weapons. The Council is likely to urge Member States to report on activities undertaken during the Africa Amnesty Month and may reiterate its call for the Commission to establish a standardised reporting and monitoring template. The PSC may also request the implementation of its decision in the communique of its 1218^th session, tasking PSC Sub-Committee on Sanctions and CISSA to produce a report on external actors supporting the warring factions and the preparation of an independent report on annual basis on the sources and channels used for supplying SALW and other weapons to conflict parties in Africa as part of the Amnesty month.  It may also request that the focus of the Amnesty Month go beyond SALW and cover the supply and use of new weapons such as drones. It may further encourage Member States to strengthen their legal frameworks for effective control and regulation of civilian firearm possession. The PSC may also underscore the importance of addressing the root causes driving the demand for small arms and weapons.