The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) continues to support State Parties in the region to implement the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). On 19 April 2016, UNLIREC – in collaboration with the Institutional Directorate on Public Security Affairs (DIASP) inaugurated its Arms Trade Treaty Implementation Course (ATT-IC) in Panama.
20 participants, representing nine institutions, analyzed the arms trade context in Latin America and the Caribbean, classified arms and elements under the application of the Treaty, tested their knowledge of the regulatory provisions that need to be applied, and familiarized themselves with end-use and end-user documentation. Responding to an explicit request by Panamanian authorities, UNLIREC`s team of experts dedicated a session on analyzing the ATT obligations on the transit of conventional arms. In this regard, they presented different national control system models, with the goal of providing examples that could inspire Panama in its own design of its national control system. UNLIREC concluded the course by conducting two practical exercises, one of which was dedicated to the evaluation of a transit request, in line with the ATT obligations, from the perspective of the national control authority.
The ATT-IC course, which is four days in duration, has the objective to provide States Members with sufficient tools to ensure the effective implementation of the Treaty so that adequate control mechanisms can be established for all international transfers of arms, ammunitions and their parts and components in order to avoid their illegal diversion and their use in criminal activities.
Thanks to the financial support of Germany, this training course and all instruction materials are available to ATT States Parties in Latin America and the Caribbean. To date, 21 countries in the region have ratified the ATT, which came into force on 24 December 2014: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominica, The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.
For more information about UNLIREC, visit (www.unlirec.org) or contact Amanda Cowl, Political Affairs Officer (cowl@unlirec.org).