A three-day training on maintenance and repair of firearms marking machines opened on Monday at the Police Training School (PTS) in Gishari, Rwamagana District.

The training brings together 15 participants from the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA) member countries.

It was organised by RECSA, a regional body created to coordinate all actions related to fight against proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

Cyprien Gatete, the commissioner for training, research and development at Rwanda National Police, while officiating at the opening of the training, said proliferation of firearms escalates conflicts, undermines political stability, and has a devastating impact on human and state security.

"There’s a clear nexus between peace and security, and development. Sustainable development cannot be achieved in the absence of peace and security, and these can only be guaranteed through the control of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons,” Gatete said.

He said proliferation of arms have been identified to sustain armed conflicts, instability, terrorism, cattle-rustling and other serious crimes in the region.

Gatete urged the trainees to take the training seriously and to put to good use the skills and knowledge for the good of their respective countries and the region at large.

Samuel Dusengimana, the legal adviser for RECSA, said proliferation of arms constitute one of the main drivers of fragility in the region and an obstacle to sustainable development.

"The cost of armed violence can be found not only in the many innocent people killed or injured by arms, but also in the impact on society. It undermines economies, over burdens health systems, causes displacement of entire communities and disrupts education for millions of children,” Dusengimana said.

"Some of this violence is being perpetuated with an existing pool of weapons, fresh supplies of arms and ammunitions.”

He said another component of RECSA capacity building programme include the development of the regional training centre that will become an incubation centre of training programmes to support member states to effectively implement the Nairobi Protocol.

Rwanda National Police offered a piece of land on which the said training centre will be constructed – at Police Training School (PTS) in Gishari.

The Nairobi Protocol, in its Article 7, obligates member states to mark all legally-owned firearms to ensure accountability and easy traceability.

RECSA has for the last 10 years helped member countries to acquire arms marking machines.

"As we strive to fast-track arms marking exercise, there is need to enhance capacity at national levels to lead the process, and this is the first step,” said Dusengimana

During the training, participants will also share situations of their work in their respective countries, achievements, best practices and challenges faced with view to find ways to overcome them.

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