MAG has completed an evaluation of every police weapons storage site in Burundi, aimed at improving the security and management of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW).

This is the first time MAG has conducted such a systematic and detailed nationwide survey of a country's police armouries.

A comprehensive report containing recommendations for safer management and storage of SALW was officially handed to the Director General of the Police Nationale Burundaise (PNB) at a ceremony in which he thanked MAG for its support.

This work will help prevent accidents and limit the risks of Government weapons stocks falling into civilian or rebel hands, so decreasing the level of violence in the run-up to next year's elections - which the Burundian population and international community fear might be held in a context of instability and violence.

The survey lasted five months and was conducted by two teams, each composed of a MAG Technical Field Manager and a PNB Liaison Officer.

Over the next year, MAG Burundi will be implementing a comprehensive Physical Security and Stockpile Management project with the PNB, addressing most of the recommendations made in the report:

1. To remove and destroy surplus and obsolete SALW;

2. Improve the physical security of the PNB armouries;

3. Train the PNB armourers to safely manage SALW.

MAG's recommendations were all made in the framework of the Nairobi Protocol for the Prevention, Control and Reduction of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa.

This survey was funded by the Conflict Prevention Pool, UK, and the Swiss Government, which has also contributed funds to improve the security of armouries in the Police Region South.