Mar 22, 2019 | Uncategorized
As part of the Canada-funded project “Building Momentum for the Regional implementation of A/RES/65/69 on Women, Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control”, the UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) carried out a sub-regional seminar entitled “Fostering Violence Prevention against Women through Arms Control. Every Woman Counts.” Dates were from 20 to 21 March 2019 in San Salvador, El Salvador.
The sub-regional seminar brought together government representatives from Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua and Panamá who have responsibility for addressing arms control, gender-based violence and violence against women and girls, as well as leading non-governmental organizations (NGOs) specialized in arms control and part of the International Action Network on Small Arms. Also participating were officials and experts from UNDP, UNODC, UN Women, the Organization of American States, the Central American Integration System, and the Center of Excellence for Statistical Information on Government, Crime, Victimization and Justice.
Nancy Robinson, UNLIREC Director, offered opening remarks stressing that the high participation achieved in the Seminar “is a testimony to the growing momentum for action against armed violence in this region.” She noted examples of how the UN and its Member States increasingly highlight and respond to the gendered nature of weapons. She encouraged participants “to stand united and work together to stop femicide and ensure that adequate controls are in place to regulate arms.”
Participants explored the differentiated impacts of armed violence on women and the link between violence against women (VAW) and small arms control through nine thematic sessions including mainstreaming gender into small arms control measures, legal responses, criminal investigation and effective policing, statistics and information management, as well as prevention, education and advocacy campaigns. After hearing the seminar sessions, participants stressed the importance of considering arms control as a main aspect in preventing violence against women and expressed their commitment to include arms control in their ongoing projects and activities, as well as when assessing current and prospective legal frameworks.
The sub-regional seminar ended with a practical exercise and small-group discussions based on a specific scenario and a case study. The active engagement of the participants generated constructive dialogues and encouraged assistants to ensure the collection of disaggregated data on femicide perpetrators, arms involved, risk factors, and reporting on all forms of gender-based violence in order to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs), in particular the SDG5 (gender equality) and SDG16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).
The sub-regional seminar is part of a regional project funded by the Government of Canada and it was held in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador.
Mar 16, 2019 | Uncategorized
In recent decades, with its nuances and variations, in Latin America and the Caribbean exponential growth has been recorded in private security services and in parallel, a greater legal demand for firearms to fuel the functioning and operations of these companies. This situation has presented a number of challenges for the States as well as the sector. The latter has become a potential target for criminal networks which seek to arm themselves. Lax legal frameworks, poor weapons management and the lack of training for personnel have been documented as factors which lead to a series of risks including losses, robberies and theft of arms and ammunition which represent a potential source of deviation to illegality.
In this context, at the request of the Dominican Republic, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), carried out on 13 March 2019 in Santo Domingo, the official launch of the technical assistance packet for strengthening national capacities for the effective and transparent management of small arms and ammunition in the private sector.
The aforementioned launch was carried out within the context of an executive seminar on good practices and international standards in the private security sector, which boasted the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Defence, the Superintendence of Surveillance and Private Security, the Public Ministry and other institutions, as well as representatives and managers from different private security companies and associations in the sector.
In this Seminar, the main initiatives and international standards available and applicable to private security as well as arms and ammunition control in the sector were presented, in order to start an open dialogue with the authorities, security companies and representatives in the sector on the opportunities for developing mechanisms for good governance.
As part of the first set of activities in this assistance packet, a technical workshop on international standards and good practices for stockpile management was also carried out on 14 and 15 March in Santo Domingo. In this Workshop, which was directed at supervisory personnel from the regulatory entity and personnel from private security companies, around 40 persons were trained. They received training in standards and procedures for strengthening physical security and stockpile procedures in order to mitigate and reduce the risks of illegal deviation.
The implementation of this assistance is made possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Mar 8, 2019 | Uncategorized
Faced with the challenges posed by armed violence in Latin America and the Caribbean and as part of the assistance provided by UNLIREC to the States in the region, the Firearms and Ammunition Evidence Management Course (EMC) was carried out in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from 5 to 7 March 2019. The objective of the course is to build the capacities of first responders, personnel from specialized areas, experts, justice operators, among others to adequately process crime scenes and evidence in cases involving firearms and ammunition.
During the three days of EMC, the 30 participants received theoretical and practical training in firearm and ammunition identification and guidelines. The course also included good practices for ensuring the competent management of crime scenes, evidence processing and analysis, as well as the correct utilization of the chain-of-custody system, among other useful tools to strengthen the investigation process and intelligence related to cases involving firearms and ammunition.
As a cross-cutting theme of the course, the gender perspective was incorporated as an additional tool to strengthen the criminal investigation process, and urge the participants to increase communication and cooperation among all the actors involved in the different stages addressed in the course, in order to optimize individual and collective efforts to take a stand against firearm related crimes. In this way, the participants contribute to reducing the levels of impunity and improving citizen confidence towards justice and security institutions.
This specialized course was developed within the framework of the “Building Momentum for the Regional Implementation of A/RES/65/69 on Women, Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control” project, which is implemented thanks to the financial assistance of the Canadian Government.
Feb 28, 2019 | Uncategorized
The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) continues to support State efforts to achieve effective implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Within this context, UNLIREC and Paraguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs held an Executive Workshop on best practices for the prevention and reduction of the risk of diversion of arms, parts, components and ammunition.
The two-day activity (26-27 February) was open to officials responsible for or involved in the control of conventional arms transfers and the implementation of the ATT. Participants included the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Mission of Paraguay to the United Nations in New York, Directorate of War Material, National Police, Public Ministry, National Customs Directorate, National Anti-Drug Secretariat, National Defense Commission of the National Congress and the Money Laundering Prevention Secretariat.
This activity was preceded by a first technical Workshop, which aimed to increase technical knowledge of the obligations of the Treaty. The second Workshop also intended to expand knowledge of the Treaty with special emphasis on import control and evaluation of conventional arms exports. In this regard, UNLIREC led an interactive exercise incorporating a fictitious export evaluation methodology highlighting the risk of diversion, along with the presentation of tools for import control, aimed at end user controls.
All project-related activities are funded by the ATT Voluntary Trust Fund, of which Paraguay is a beneficiary and in which UNLIREC, at the request of the Paraguayan authorities, is the main implementing partner.
Source: UNLIREC
Feb 22, 2019 | Uncategorized
On February 21st, 2019, UNLIREC and the Government of Peru held the workshop Moving towards a national regulation against biological weapons. The activity was part of the implementation roadmap of Resolution 1540 and had as its main goals: deepening knowledge on the main conventional instruments on weapons of mass destruction and to resume the drafting of an instrument on the prohibition of biological weapons and the regulation of aspects associated to biological related materials for proliferation prevention.
This meeting brought together 26 representatives from 7 institutions and agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Health, Production, Environment, National Police and National Superintendence of Tax Administration and the Peruvian.
During the workshop, participants received information on the content of the main non-proliferation treaties and conventions, plus Resolution 1540, in addition to the measures needed for its national implementation. The representatives of the different institutions and sectors were also able to discuss and exchange information on aspects related to the modernization of the national legislation, particularly in the biological field.
Earlier this year, between November 14th and 16th UNLIREC had the opportunity to support national authorities in the organization of a round table to strengthen Resolution 1540.
This workshop is part of UNLIREC’s 1540 Assistance Package with financial support from Canada.
Feb 15, 2019 | Uncategorized
The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) continues to assist States of the region with the objective of supporting their efforts to implement the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). UNLIREC, with the collaboration of the Ministry of Interior and Police, carried out a Second Implementation Course of the Arms Trade Treaty (CITCA), which was held in Santo Domingo, from February 11th to February 14th.
Along four days, 25 participants, representing 8 institutions, analyzed the arms trade context in Latin America and the Caribbean, classified weapons and elements under the scope of the Treaty, expanded their knowledge on applicable regulatory provisions and became familiar with various topics such as end use and end user documentation, the national control list or the export assessment, among other topics to which the ATT makes reference. The theoretical sessions were complemented, during the last day sessions, with two practical exercises, in which participants simulated the assessment of two export applications, in line with the provisions of the ATT and from the perspective of the national control authority.
CITCA aims to provide States with sufficient tools to ensure the effective implementation of the Treaty, so that adequate control mechanisms are established for international transfers of conventional weapons, their ammunition and their parts and components, with the ultimate goal of reducing the undesired consequences of legal trade of these elements as well as their diversion.
This activity took place within the framework of the implementation of the Dominican Republic ATT´s project, thanks to the financial support of the Voluntary Trust Fund of the Arms Trade Treaty.
