UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- A British envoy said Wednesday that the misuse of small arms costs hundreds of thousands of lives in Africa.

"Small arms and light weapons have a role in ensuring legitimate defense and security, but their misuse costs hundreds of thousands of lives every year, undermines security and development and fuels conflict crime and terrorism," Stephen Hickey, political coordinator of the British mission to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting on the initiative of "Silencing the Guns in Africa."

"This cannot be achieved without effective functioning of peace and security institutions at the national level," he said. "It also relies on strong cross-border and regional cooperation."

"The United Kingdom looks forward to continuing to work with the African Union on improving management of small arms and light weapons and ammunition in Africa," he said.

The Security Council held the high-level open debate on how the African Union and the UN can cooperate to end conflict in Africa under the agenda item "Cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations: Silencing the Guns in Africa."

The meeting was chaired by Simeon Oyono Esono Angue, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Equatorial Guinea.

Equatorial Guinea, which holds the monthly presidency of the Security Council, had circulated a concept note in preparation for the meeting. The note summarizes steps taken in Africa to make progress in ending conflict on the continent since May 2013, when AU heads of state and government adopted the program for "Silencing the Guns by 2020" as part of the Solemn Declaration marking AU's 50th anniversary.