Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons in Sub-Saharan Africa: Using UN Reports on Arms Embargoes to Identify Sources, Challenges and Policy Measures

This report synthetizes the data on small arms and light weapons (SALW) diversion in the United Nations Panel of Experts reports on the five UN arms embargoes in place in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022—on the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan (Darfur region). The paper provides a typology on the sources of illicit SALW in the states and regions under embargo and discusses the challenges of enforcing arms embargoes and possible policy solutions to address the various sources of illicit SALW in order to inform and support efforts to combat the proliferation of illicit arms.