On 21 April 2022, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in collaboration with the Government of Haiti and the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), and with financial support of the Government of Germany, hosted the first preliminary inter-institutional roundtable meeting to advance Haiti’s National Action Plan (NAP) for the implementation of the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap.
The virtual meeting focused on Goal 4 of the Roadmap which seeks to systematically decrease the risk of diversion of firearms and ammunition from government and non-government owned arsenals. It covered the Modular Small-arms-control Implementation Compendium (MOSAIC) and the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines (IATG) as international best practices and valuable guidelines for physical security and stockpile management. UNLIREC also highlighted the importance of maintaining technical and administrative standards, conducting periodic risk assessments, and reviewing security plans to diminish the risk of loss, accidents, or diversion of weapons and ammunition in the region.
The Government of the United States of America has pledged financial support to the first phase of implementation of Goal 4 of the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap, specifically the destruction of weapon surpluses and relevant training and equipment. Therefore, UNLIREC also presented an overview of its technical assistance for the implementation of such activities.
Haiti adopted the ‘Roadmap for Implementing the Caribbean Priority Actions on the Illicit Proliferation of Firearms and Ammunition across the Caribbean in a Sustainable Manner by 2030’ (Caribbean Firearms Roadmap) following a regional meeting of Caribbean Heads of Governments in 2019. On 15 February 2022, Haiti became the 12th State to commence concrete actions under the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap and initiated the process to establish a NAP for its implementation.
UNLIREC, in tandem with the other co-custodia CARICOM IMPACS, is lending technical assistance to the development of the NAP in Haiti and its successive implementation.
UNLIREC, as the regional centre under the umbrella of the UN Office for Disarmament, seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its commitment to support Member States in their implementation of international disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation instruments, in particular, the 2001 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.