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Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW)

BICC offers training and consultancy on small arms control - all around the world.

  • Since 2004, the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) provided consultancy and training for the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) and members of civil society on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DD&R) and small arms control issues. In the 2007-08 project cycle, the activities consisted of three core elements: Training courses, awareness-raising / information dissemination and stakeholder consultations.
  • In cooperation with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), BICC did a training session at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Ghana on small arms control and linked topics in 2008. Various different actors from West Africa (amongst them ECOWAS staff, NGOs, military, police staff) contributed to in the training to jointly oversee the violence and small arms issue and to support peace.
  • TRESA (external link) (Training and Education on Small Arms) was a BICC project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ). TRESA developed and implemented a methodology and practice for the delivery of configurable, assessed, training material and tools and courses related to small-arms control. The developed 15 TRESA modules are all available online.
  • One region in which the illegal trade in weapons is especially thriving is the Horn of Africa. The SALIGAD-Project (Small Arms and Light Weapons in IGAD countries, 2000-2002) has tried to create incentives that would keep the misuse of small arms and light weapons in the region at bay.


BICC offers consultancy services in the area of marking and tracing of small arms and light weapons.

On behalf of the German Foreign Office, BICC developed two new modules on marking and tracing of small arms and light weapons (SALW): one module for trainers and one for trainees.

BICC collects data on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW).

  • On behalf of the UNDP, BICC, together with its Belgian partner organization GRIP is planning to carry out a baseline survey on the production, proliferation and use of small and light weapons (SALW) in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in early 2009.
  • BICC is author of studies for the Small Arms Survey (SAS).

BICC evaluates small arms control.

In 2006, BICC evaluated on behalf of the German and Dutch Foreign Office a project on the destruction of small arms and ammunition in Afghanistan. In Kabul and in the four north-eastern provinces Baglan, Kundus, Takar und Badakhshan, a BICC expert observed and evaluated the effectiveness of stockpiles of weapons and ammunition destruction.

BICC offers advice on the safe stockpiling of small arms and ammunition.

At the invitation of the German Foreign Office, BICC has presented keystone speeches at international regional seminars on stockpile maintenance in Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

BICC participates in UN-conferences on small arms control.

The United Nations Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its Aspects in 2001 offered an opportunity to remind the international community that the struggle against the spread and misuse of small arms generally needs to go hand in hand with the quest for sustainable development. In 2001, 2003 as well as at the BMS of 2005 and 2007, BICC was actively involved in the international discussion by hosting workshops and side events.


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