Of the 25 major conflicts identified worldwide in 1997, all new ones were located in Africa. As a result, of the 22 million refugees globally, 8.1 million are in Africa. Throughout Africa, currently about 20 million people are displaced. Conflicts have several political, economic, and social causes, but it would be much easier to prevent and resolve them if the availability of small arms were curtailed. For the supply of small arms and light weapons is the most important aggravating factor in conflict situations.
Most small arms originate in the industrialized North.
Measures must be devised to limit access to small arms, to curtail the supply of small arms and to reduce the demand for small arms. The weapons of violence must be brought back into the control of the state, with the state itself being made accountable for its deeds. This essentially means empowering the state at one level, and using all tools available to induce more responsible behavior on its part, at another. The two approaches must be mutually compatible. In this complex situation, a sincere abhorrence of covert wars and civilian destruction would prove conducive to putting in place the norms that would regulate state and non-state behavior alike.