Introduction
The Regional Centre on Small Arms in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States (RECSA), has received funding from the European Commission for a three-year project under the name "The Fight Against the Illicit Accumulation and Trafficking of Firearms in Africa”. The overall objective of the project is to support the fight against the proliferation of firearms and explosive materials in Africa.

The specific objectives are:
1. To support the Africa-European Union (EU) strategic partnership in the fight against illicit accumulation and trafficking of firearms and explosive materials through enhanced implementing capacity.
2. To raise awareness and knowledge of relevant institutional and civil society actors on the legislative and institutional aspects of the fight against the illicit accumulation and trafficking of firearms with the view to foster the role, and/or establishment where they are not in place, of National Focal Points (NFP), and to develop and/or implement of National Action Plans (NAPs).
3. To strengthen the African Regional Police Chiefs Organizations’ (RPCOs) and the capacity of and cooperation between national, regional and continental law enforcement agencies to fight cross-border illicit trafficking in firearms and explosive materials.

Related project implementation activities
The project is in the second year of implementation after being launched, in March 2010, and all the beneficiaries, including Regional Interpol Bureau representatives, endorsed the project. Thereafter, regional meetings were held in all the Regional Economic Communities targeted under the project, that is; RECSA region , ECOWAS, ECCAS and SADC. The project was also presented at the Interpol Africa Regional Conference held in February 2011 in Botswana.
 

The Regional Police Chiefs meeting
This meeting will bring together EAPCCO, CAPCCO, SARPCCO, WAPCCO and ECOWAS Security Chiefs. They will include the current Chair of the Police Chiefs Organization, the Deputy or in-coming chair and the Head of the Interpol Regional Bureau. The meeting will also be attended by representatives of Interpol, the AU, EU and RECSA.

Objective
The meeting will offer an opportunity to regional Police Chiefs Organizations to identify priority areas that the project may support to strengthen their operations within the continent.

Venue and date
The meeting will take place in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, from 26 to 27, May 2011. 

Ends