Members of the ECOWAS Small Arms Programme (ECOSAP) Advisory Board have been charged to use their wealth of experience to define a vision to overcome the challenges posed by proliferation of small arms in the sub-region. Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, President of the ECOWAS Commission, was speaking in Abuja, Nigeria, on Monday during the inauguration of the ECOSAP Advisory Board. Dr. Chambas recalled that proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in West Africa had adversely affected development of the region. This, he noted, had denied West Africans good quality life through the many and intense civil wars and armed robbery. The message was signed by Mr Oluwafisan Bankale, Policy, Advocacy and Communication Officer, ECOWAS Small Arms Programme (ECOSAP) Small Arms Unit (SAU) of ECOWAS. Dr Sola Ogunbanwo, a member of the ECOSAP Advisory Board, thanked the Commission for selecting them to serve and promised that they would do their best to ensure the success of the programme. He recalled that the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and Related Materials has been accepted as pace-setter in the war against small arms even within the global UN system. The ECOSAP Advisory Board is composed of eminent personalities from the West African sub-region and beyond. It has, as part of its mandate, to assist with advocacy, developing strategic partnerships, resource mobilization and establishing an international network for the programme. The Advisory Board will also serve to provide the vision on how the small arms problem in the sub-region can be effectively tackled. The members of the Board who were present were Mr Kouadio Adjoumani (Cote d’Ivoire), Dr Christine Agboton-Johnson (Senegal), Mr Michael Hasenau (Germany), Lt. Gen Seth Obeng (Ghana) and Dr Sola Ogunbanwo (Nigeria). Dr Ogunbanwo was elected by members as chairman of the Board. Ms Merete Lundemo (Norway) and Dr Keith Krause (Canada) were not able to attend. ECOSAP was launched in June 2006 as a five-year capacity-building programme aimed at strengthening the capacity of National Commissions, ECOWAS Small Arms Division and Civil Society Organisations in the war against proliferation of small arms in West Africa. The programme is based in Bamako, Mali. Source: GNA