Assembly/AU/Dec.645(XXIX) Page 2 5. CALLS ON all AU Member States and RECs/RMs to further strengthen their oversight and accountability mechanisms, including reinforcing legislative, operational and regulatory frameworks between countries and regions within the continent. FURTHER CALLS ON AU Member States and RECs/RMs to enhance cooperation towards effective regulations and controls to prevent the diversion or re-export of weapons/arms; 6. STRESSES THE IMPORTANCE of promoting and supporting the involvement of youths and women in addressing the problem of proliferation and use of illegal weapons, as well as movement of illegal weapons and other illicit goods. In this respect, UNDERSCORES the need to establish regional research institutions where they do not exist, considering that sound analytical and empirical research on weapons/arms proliferation will better equip the leadership with adequate information to facilitate decision making; 7. EMPHASIZES THE NEED to address root causes of conflicts, as well as undertaking effective security sector reform and disarmament, demobilization and re-integration programmes in countries emerging from conflict, in order to avoid relapse and fresh exposure to inflow of illegal weapons and violence, as well as to trafficking of other illicit goods; 8. REQUESTS the Commission, as also requested by the PSC in its Press Statement [PSC/PR/BR.(CDXXX)] of its 430th meeting held on 24 April 2014, to submit and present to the PSC, the outcomes of the continent-wide mapping exercise which was launched in early 2017, with a view to generating concrete data on patterns and trends in illegal weapons and ammunition inflows and crossborder flows, diversion and circulation, as well as gaps in control measures in Member States, in order to strengthen AU remedial efforts; 9. DECLARES the month of September, of each year till 2020, as “Africa Amnesty Month” for the surrender and collection of illegally owned weapons/arms, in line with the African and international best practices. In this context, PRONOUNCES as follows: i) persons who surrender their illegally owned weapons/arms shall not be subjected to disclosure humiliation, arrest or prosecution; ii) persons who fail to surrender their illegally owned weapons/arms beyond the Africa Amnesty month, shall automatically be considered to be in violation of national laws and the Amnesty and shall therefore be prosecuted according to the national laws of the Member States; iii) all Member States, RECs/RMs as well as civil society organizations shall give wide publicity, through all media networks, to the Africa Amnesty Month within their territories and regions; and