Jamie Theakston – he’s been a bit quiet of late, hasn’t he?
Well, if you’re one of those who still hanker for Live and Kicking on Saturday mornings, and wonder where on earth Jamie went, you can blame Oxfam. We’ve borrowed him. And we took him to Liberia, an African country struggling to recover from the aftermath of a 14-year civil war, to show him the suffering caused by an arms trade out of control. Want to know what he found out? Read on…
The heavy toll of civil war
Jamie learned that Liberia’s civil war killed around a quarter of a million people, and forced one third of the population – more than a million – from their homes. Many of them have been beaten, shot at and grown accustomed to killing – often before they’ve even been through puberty. Now these child soldiers are involved in a national disarmament process to rid the country of its gun surplus.
Oxfam took Jamie to see the huge stashes of weapons collected as part of this process. He also spoke to campaigners working to bring communities back together after so much fighting, as well as the child soldiers themselves. A lot of these kids have handed over their weapons and are being schooled in makeshift care camps, although funding for education is low and their future uncertain. Many have seen their families again for the first time in years.
Oxfam have been working in Liberia since 1995, providing clean water and sanitary facilities in camps and urban areas where those displaced by the conflict have settled. During Liberia’s transition from war to peace, Oxfam has worked to strengthen local groups protecting the rights of civilians, supported sustainable livelihood projects, and promoted education, especially for girls.
Pushing for change in the UK
Now back in the UK, Jamie is urging our government to push for a global Arms Trade Treaty that will make guns less accessible. He is in no doubt that governments who trade in arms share the responsibility for the devastation and misery caused by conflicts such as Liberia’s. “The unchecked trade in small arms fuelled Liberia’s civil war and caused untold suffering,” he said. “The child soldiers I met in Liberia had lived through unimaginable horrors in their short lives. We need tougher international controls to stop guns falling into young hands.”
One of the ex-soldiers Jamie met was ‘Aaron’ (not his real name). Aaron first used a gun when he was ten and his legs are now permanently scarred from bullet wounds and shrapnel. He has killed many people, all government soldiers, and was nearly killed himself several times. Now reunited with his family and going to school, he said: “Western countries should stop selling guns to us because we use them to kill one another. When they stop sending the guns, we don’t have anything to fight with and probably we don’t have any need to fight.”
This situation of rich countries supplying weapons to the developing world cannot continue. Foreign Minister Jack Straw has already agreed to support an international Arms Trade Treaty, but more countries must sign on if this treaty is to have any effect. You can help to bring the arms trade under control by supporting the Control Arms campaign like Jamie, and adding your voice to those demanding a regulated global arms trade. | 
