UN General Assembly
2007

support by the United Nations to African Union missions within the agreed-upon frameworks. In this regard, my delegation welcomes the Secretary- General’s initiative to provide assistance to the African Union to enhance its military capabilities and mediation role in conflict resolution. The United Nations has deployed a lot of time and resources in the area of disarmament and development. The proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the Horn of Africa continues to undermine our security and development. It has contributed to making our neighbourhood a very tough one. In order to address this challenge, the States of the region rallied together in 2000 to sign the Nairobi Declaration on the Problem of the Proliferation of Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa. The Declaration was upgraded in 2004 to a legally binding Protocol, the first intergovernmental instrument of its kind to address the proliferation of small arms. In 2005, the Protocol established the Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA), with the main