Arms Trade Treaty:

CAMYOSFOP drills gov’t officials

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

CAMYOSFOP officials posed for family photo with gov’t official

Some key government ministries in Yaounde have received intense training on the use of manuals on the domestication and ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty, ATT, in Cameroon. The Cameroon Youths and Students Forum for peace, CAMYOSFOP, gave them the training recently so that it would enable the ratification process of the ATT.

                The Executive Director, NgalimEugineNyuydine said these key personalities had been part of the inter-ministerial committee on the ratification process and bringing them was to build their capacity on the Arms Trade treaty which will be done through a manual produced by the organization.

                After disseminating a similar idea to journalists at a two day workshop outing, CAMYOSFOP made it clear to officials they had taken keen interest just after 2001 when the UN launched a program of Action to Prevent, Combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all aspects (PoA). The organization to note had also mobilized, sensitized and advocated for the adoption and ratification of the Kinshasa Convention in Central Africa for the control of SALW, their ammunition and all parts and components that can be used for their manufacture, repair and assembly that stands out as a major step towards the implementation of the PoA in the region.

                The government ministries were told that, CAMYOSFOP became involved in the ATT process in 2005, just four years after its creation. NgalimEugineNyuydine, join the Control Arms Steering Committee on developing the global principles of the ATT. CAMYOSFOP later took the lead in mobilizing the public and advocating the government of Cameroon towards the adoption and signing of the treaty. In order for these efforts to be sustain, in 2016 CAMYOSFOP and the Regional Centre on Small Arms for the Great Lake and Horn of Africa (RECSA) organized a series of advocacy workshops with Members of Parliament, senior government officials and the civil society not to move the government towards the ratification of the ATT but also to create a notional commission for the management and control of arms in Cameroon.

                Couple with the series of presentations at the workshop, Colonel Jacque Didier, one of leading coordinators at the workshop, expounded on the Genesis, ratification and implementation process of the ATT. The Colonel said that Cameroon had benefitted from international treaties signed with foreign bodies to assist them with arms so it could help them fight at battle fronts. He added, the ATT Cameroon is neglecting ratifying would indeed help in solving related cases to human rights violations. He upholds that the ATT is the first global instrument in the transfer of arms to the government and civilians.

                Meanwhile, the Executive Director of CAMYOSFOP, in his presentation on key articles from the ATT said the treaty was negotiated for over a decade and adopted by 2nd of April, 2013 by 154 votes to three abstentions and that the treaty for pursuant of article 21 in signing was ratified.

                What nest after the workshop, Eugene Ngalim positioned the key ministries to use knowledge received so that they could go back and ensure government and civil society do the implementation of the ATT in Cameroon.