I. General Objectives
The project aims to provide technical assistance and capacity building to the four (4) Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) Member States and Benin who all take part in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), mandated by the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC), to prevent the acquisition of arms and ammunition by violent extremist/terrorist groups including foreign terrorist fighters (FTF). In so doing, the project will contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 16.4 (‘By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime’).
II. Benefiary Countries
Benin Niger Nigeria Cameroon Chad
III. Expected Outcomes
REDUCED CAPACITY OF TERRORIST GROUPS TO HARM LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND STATE INSTITUTIONS IN THE LAKE CHAD BASIN FOLLOWING CURTAILED ACCESS TO ILLICIT WEAPONS AND AMMUNITION
IV. Specific Objectives
More specifically, the project will seek to:
- Improve weapons and ammunition management to reduce the risk of diversion to violent extremist/terrorist groups;
- Improve joint data & intelligence sharing mechanism among the relevant authorities of the five beneficiary countries at both national and local levels (border areas); and
- Improve controls at borders and entry/exit points to deter/intercept attempted illicit trafficking of SALW and humans (recruits and migrants).
A baseline assessment will be conducted to appraise the state of play on the three topics of secure weapons and ammunition management, joint data & intelligence sharing mechanism as well as detection and deterrence of illicit trafficking of SALW and human beings at borders.
The project builds on a similar project with LCBC Member States implemented by UNREC in 2016-2017 with financial contribution from the Swiss Confederation and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF). It is expected that the project, after its anticipated lifespan of 2 years, would contribute to shaping the resilience of local communities and State Institutions vis-à-vis illicit trafficking and acquisition of arms and ammunition, negative influence and armed violence by terrorists and criminal networks and related militias, thus contributing indirectly to the resilience of the social fabric and economic structures of the five Member States participating in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC).
