Last month, the African continent's most lucrative arms producing state, South Africa, wrote a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan describing its commitment to combat the flow of small arms to civil wars and ethnic conflicts around the world.

The significance of this letter is immeasurable. For many years South Africa has been a contributor to the global small arms problem. During the apartheid era, South Africa was the world's 10th largest arms manufacturer. South Africa's neighbors have endured some of the bloodiest civil wars in history, and South African weapons played a large role in allowing those conflicts to continue long after they would otherwise have run their destructive courses.

In the letter to Annan, the South African government wrote that it has "adopted a policy of destroying all its obsolete and redundant surplus small arms so that they do not find their way into battle zones." Perhaps more importantly, South Africa also said it was "further committed to stopping the flow of illegal small arms across its borders."

The destructive force of small arms and light weapons is often felt most heavily in post-conflict societies. South Africa, which delicately negotiated a peaceful end of apartheid in 1994, is virtually awash in weapons. As a result, in the past few years, it has taken steps to rid itself of weapons. The South African Police Service reportedly destroyed or melted down 70 tons of small arms and ammunition last year alone, including 4,504 pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns and home-made firearms.

South Africa has conducted several weapons seizure programs -- codenamed Operation Rachel I, II, and III -- with the Mozambican government to locate and destroy surplus light weapons. More than 100 tons of small arms and ammunition have been destroyed in these efforts. But there have been scandals arising from leaks to arms traffickers that a seizure was about to occur and from allegations of cooperation between traffickers and enforcement officials.

Regardless of the problems, South Africa's commitment to reining in small arms availability and trafficking is real. Media reports indicate that in 1997 South Africa's arms industry exported approximately $265 million worth of military equipment to 63 countries.

Furthermore, in the letter to Secretary-General Annan, South Africa wrote that it "is committed to a policy of responsibility and accountability in the trade and transfer of all arms." To make good on this commitment, South African created a ministerial body to "ensure the responsible transfer and trade in, among others, small arms and light weapons." Pending legislation in South Africa also includes licensing of civilian small arms, and requirements for the safe storage of small arms and light weapons.

South Africa's decision to make public, through the U.N., its commitment to ridding the world of small arms is not surprising. The U.N. has been a key player in the small arms issue and has repeatedly noted the growing problems caused by small arms on the African continent. At a speech to the U.N. Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters on January 19, Secretary-General Annan said that "the scourge of small arms continues to devastate civilian populations, creating humanitarian crises the world over. These weapons of personal destruction impair economic and social progress and impede our best development efforts."

The recognition that small arms impede development was echoed on February 4 by James Gustave Speth, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). In his remarks to a meeting of UNDP's Africa-based representatives, Speth said, "The world cannot ask Africa to develop and then blight its development efforts through the sale of arms and ammunition that fuel Africa's civil conflicts....The culture of war is a stark denial of the right to development, to life itself. We must say 'no' to the trade in death. Nowhere have small arms wrought as much havoc as that found in Africa where national conflicts have turned millions of people into refugees and internally-displaced persons."

The U.N. is not simply paying lip service to the small arms issue. Last fall the U.N. worked with the countries of West Africa to impose a moratorium on the import, export, and manufacture of light weapons (see "West African Small Arms Moratorium Adopted," Weekly Defense Monitor, November 12, 1998). And the U.N.'s involvement goes far beyond Africa. Most recently, the U.N. and UNDP have established a pilot program in Albania to collect and destroy surplus small arms throughout the country (see "Weapons Collection Program in Albania to Begin With U.N. Support," Weekly Defense Monitor, January 21, 1999).

The steps taken by South Africa and the United Nations are essential for dealing with the small arms problem. The next step is for other major arms producing countries to outline their commitment to eradicating surplus small arms stocks, developing legislation for responsible civilian possession of small arms, improving transparency measures, and redefining the criteria required for arms transfers. When the major arms producing countries address small arms as a global problem, real progress will be made.