Madagascar
The political and military situation in Madagascar has been relatively stable since a coup occurred in 2009. More recently, the country has experienced multiple crises (environmental, economic and social) that increase the potential for armed protests within the population.1 The country suffers from moderate levels of firearm and ammunition trafficking,2 and does not have any significant problems linked to unexploded ordnance on its territory.3
The African Union; the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC); the UN Development Programme (UNDP); the Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA); the Regional Centre on Small Arms in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States (RECSA); the HALO Trust; and the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC) have been working on the ground to support the through-life management of ammunition, in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence of Madagascar. Efforts have included providing laser marking machines, organising training on ammunition marking procedures, building physical security and stockpile management capacities, promoting the voluntary surrender of weapons and ammunition in civilian communities, and contributing to a database on interventions in the field of small arms and light weapons control.4
1 “In Madagascar, Multiple Crises Compound,” Direct Aid, February 8, 2022, https://reliefweb.int/report/madagascar/madagascar-multiple-crises-compound.
2 Philip Alpers, Michael Picard and Clara Mourlevat, Madagascar – Gun Facts, Figures and the Law (GunPolicy.org, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, 2022), https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/madagascar.
3 “Madagascar: Cluster Munition Ban Policy,” Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor, August 5, 2015, http://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/2015/madagascar/cluster-munition-ban-policy.aspx.
4 “Ammunition Management Activity Platform (A-MAP),” GICHD, 2022, https://a-map.gichd.org.
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Further information
Accidental explosions
Since the Small Arms Survey began collecting data in 1979, no accidental explosions have been reported in Madagascar.
Source: “Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites (UEMS) Database,” Small Arms Survey, updated December 15, 2021, https://smallarmssurvey.org/database/unplanned-explosions-munitions-sites-uems.
Cases of diversion
Several cases of diversion have been reported since 2014 in Madagascar.
Table 1. Cases of diversion of arms, ammunition and explosives in Madagascar since 2014
| Year | Location | Description |
2020 | Farafangana | A gun was stolen from a prison officer during a breakout. |
2014 | Ivato | More than 4,000 AK-47 assault rifle rounds were stolen from the air base. |
Source: “4000 Rounds Stolen from a Warehouse Facility,” Madagascar Online, January 20, 2014, https://www.madonline.com/4000-rounds-stolen-from-a-warehouse-facility/?lang=en; “UN Troubled by Fatal Madagascar Jailbreak Shootings,” Seychelles News Agency, August 29, 2020, http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/13463/UN+troubled+by+fatal+Madagascar+jailbreak+shootings.
Disposal
Insufficient information on the disposal of ammunition in Madagascar.
Needs
To further enhance safe and secure ammunition management, the following needs have been identified for Madagascar:
- Development or refinement of standards and procedures on stockpile management;
- Capacity development for the destruction of surplus stockpiles (e.g. training on the destruction of surplus and obsolete weapons and ammunition and the acquisition of mobile shredders for the destruction of obsolete weapons); and
- Construction according to the technical standards of arms and ammunition magazines.
Source: Madagascar, National Report on the Implementation of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PoA) and the International Tracing Instrument (ITI) (New York: Permanent Mission of Madagascarto the UN, 2022), https://unoda-poa.s3.amazonaws.com/reports/MDG-French-1179-SUBMITTED.pdf.
