Democratic Republic of the Congo

Since gaining independence from Belgium in 1960, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has experienced significant political turmoil. The resurgence of armed conflict in 1996 led to a proliferation of small arms and light weapons and ammunition.¹ Intense fighting between government forces and non-state actors continues, mostly in the eastern region; with the support of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), the country is engaged in several non-international conflicts against armed groups in Kivu, Kasai and Ituri.² This armed violence is fuelled by the illicit flow of small arms and light weapon and ammunition across the country's borders, which has resulted in population displacement and had devastating health and economic impacts in the DRC.³

The country's guiding gun control legislation comprises the Law of 1985 on the Regime of Arms and Ammunition.⁴ In 2016, a national weapons and ammunition management baseline assessment was implemented by the government, in cooperation with UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS). In addition, MONUSCO; the Mines Advisory Group (MAG); and the Regional Centre on Small Arms in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States (RECSA) have supported various ammunition management programmes in the country, including on ammunition destruction and stockpiles security.⁵

¹ UNMAS (UN Mine Action Service) DRC, "Improving Security in the DRC through Weapons and Ammunition Management," The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction (2020), https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2916&context=cisr-journal.

² "DRC: A Mapping of Non-International Armed Conflicts in Kivu, Kasai and Ituri,” Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project (RULAC), Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, updated February 5, 2019, https://www.rulac.org/news/democratic-republic-of-the-congo-a-mapping-of-non-international-armed-confl. 

³ Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, US Department of State, To Walk the Earth in Safety (Washington, DC: US Department of State, 2018), https://www.state.gov/reports/to-walk-the-earth-in-safety-2018/. 

⁴ Philip Alpers, Michael Picard and Clara Mourlevat, Congo (DRC) – Gun Facts, Figures and the Law (GunPolicy.org, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, 2022), https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/congo-drc.

⁵ “Ammunition Management Activity Platform (A-MAP),” GICHD, 2022, https://a-map.gichd.org.