On 31 May 2016, UNAMID’s Ordnance and Disposal Office (ODO), Central Darfur, handed over two modified storage facilities to the Central Darfur Police Station and the State Prison in Zalingei. The hand over came in line with the Mission’s mandate of protecting innocent civilians through better control of small arms and light weapons across Darfur.

Addressing the attendees, Lameck Kawiche, Head of Office, UNAMID Sector Central, underlined the importance of controlling the unsecured arms and weapons in Darfur and urged the police and prison administration in Zalingei to fully make use of these facilities. He also highlighted the report of the UN Programme of Action, indicated that every year more than half million civilians are killed as a result of proliferation of small arms.

In his remarks, Abel Tesfai, Operations Officer, ODO, UNAMID Sector Central, stated that the unsecured small arms poses direct threat to the security of the local communities and noted that the storage facilities will effectively contribute to enhancing security in the area, since weapons will be controlled and properly stored in best standardised manner.

On his part, the Deputy Director of Zalingei Prison, Lt. Anwar Ahmed Hajou, expressed his appreciation for UNAMID’s support to the prison administration in strengthening weapons and ammunition safe storage system. He also commended the cooperation between the prisons administration and the Mission. He recalled a prison break incident which took place on April 2015 in which 52 fugitive inmates took arms from a poorly secured weapons storage and managed to escape. “That incident at the facility led to the intervention of ODO to provide safe storage at par with internationally accepted standards,” added Mr. Hajou.