Berman, Eric G. 2005 ‘Arms Recovery and Disarmament Efforts - Internationally Assisted Initiatives.’ Small Arms Survey 2005: Weapons at War; Chapter 11, pp. 325-326. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva / Oxford University Press. 1 January

Relevant contents

National Programme for Disarmament and Reintegration (2002–03)

In 2002, the CAR government launched a new programme to recover arms and to provide marketable skills. The principal objectives of the National Programme for Disarmament and Reintegration (Programme national de désarmement et de reinsertion, or PNDR) were to recover around 10,000 small arms and light weapons and to offer livelihoods training to 2,000 individuals who opted to participate. Political and military developments in CAR, however, made it difficult to implement the programme as planned. The failed coup attempt of October 2002, the heightened instability that followed in its wake, and the successful coup of March 2003 greatly complicated matters.

Despite - or perhaps because of - these challenges, the PNDR was fully funded. In January 2003, USD 1.96 million had been secured from donor countries and the UN. Canada, Germany, Italy, and Norway together contributed more than 55 per cent of the necessary funds, with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) covering the shortfall.

The PNDR recovered approximately 1,100 weapons. The data includes so many inconsistencies that it is impossible to determine with any certainty what actually occurred. Reports of the PNDR, UNDP, and the UN Secretary- General contain different figures. Of these three sources, the PNDR, which bears primary responsibility for implementing the project, is considered authoritative as it has the most details. Within the reports of the PNDR, the figures believed to be most accurate come from its detailed accounts of individual weapons recovered. Based on PNDR data, in an early report, the CAR government enumerated 891 small arms and 14 light weapons collected between 23 January and 31 May 2002, supplying serial numbers when possible. In a May 2003 document, the PNDR similarly listed additional firearms collected since the first destruction ceremony on 15 June 2002 (see below): 135 small arms and 3 light weapons. Eighty-four weapons collected in Bangassou and Mobaye were not included, as they were to be destroyed on site for security reasons.

The total number, therefore, is 219. Only 59 of these 84 additional weapons are mentioned in the May 2003 document, and not in the same level of detail as the other 135. Apparently, 25 of these 84 weapons were transferred to Bangui separately.

[CAR = Central African Republic]

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