Madagascar
In Madagascar, the political and military situation has been relatively stable since a coup took place in 2009. More recently, the country has suffered from multiple crises (environmental, economic and social) which pose a risk in terms of potential armed protests within the population.1 The country suffers from moderate levels of firearm and ammunition trafficking2 and it does not have notable problems of unexploded ordnance on its territory.3
The African Union, UNREC, UNDP, UNODA, RECSA, HALO, and BICC have been on the ground to help with the through-life management of ammunition by working with the Ministry of Defence of Madagascar. Efforts have included the provision of laser marking machines, training on ammunition marking procedures, providing capacity-building on Physical Security and Stockpile Management (PSSM), 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
1Direct Aid. “In Madagascar, Multiple Crises Compound.” ReliefWeb, February 8, 2022. https://reliefweb.int/report/madagascar/madagascar-multiple-crises-compound.
2“Guns in Madagascar.” Gun Law and Policy: Firearms and armed violence, country by country. Accessed June 22, 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.
4See AMAP Dataset.
Launch the country dashboard
Further information
Accidental explosions
Since the beginning of data collection in 1979 by the Small Arms Survey, no accidental explosions were reported in Madagascar.
Source: Source: Small Arms Survey. n.d. Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites (UEMS). Database.
Cases of diversion
Various cases of diversion have been reported since 2000 in Madagascar.
Table 1: Cases of diversion of arms, ammunition, and explosives in Madagascar since 2000
| Year | Location | Description |
2020 | Farafangana | A gun was stolen from a prison officer during a breakout. |
2014 | Ivato | More than 4000 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 + acquisition of mobile shredders for the destruction of obsolete weapons)
- Construction according to the technical standards of arms and ammunition magazines
Source: PoA Report 2022, Madagascar. Please note that PoA reports focus on SALW and not specifically on ammunition. https://unoda-poa.s3.amazonaws.com/reports/MDG-French-1179-SUBMITTED.pdf. See also 2022 AMAT Needs Data Set.
