The Egmont Institute has the pleasure to invite you to an Africa Seminar on 14th of November with Eric Berman, Director of the Safeguarding Security Sector Stockpiles (S4) Initiative, and a visiting scholar at the Program of African Studies at Northwestern University. Contingent-owned equipment (COE) in peace operations and government stockpiles in conflict zones are important sources of lethal materiel and components used to make improvised explosive devices for many non-state armed groups. Weapons and ammunition management (WAM) practices in numerous missions are often problematic for both COE and recovered materiel from enemy forces. Drawing on extensive research on how armed non-state actors acquire weapons, Director Bergman will discuss his latest report analysing how attacks on security forces in the Lake Chad Basin region underscore the need to focus on national security personnel serving alongside peacekeepers and to engage policymakers and practitioners outside of arms control and peacekeeping communities.

(Photo credit: Flickr, Shacon-1)