Washington, DC, 12 February 2025 – Ministers of security and high-level officials from six Central American countries and the Dominican Republic will adopt the Central American and Dominican Republic Roadmap to Prevent the Illicit Trafficking and Proliferation of Arms, Ammunition and Explosives on Wednesday, 12 of February, at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC.
This new joint regional initiative is aimed at strengthening the fight against illicit trafficking in arms, ammunition and explosives. The adoption of this Roadmap marks a significant step toward enhancing cooperation and national capacities, with the aim of countering one of the main threats to the security and development in the region.
The Roadmap is the result of a two-year development process and is based on four key pillars:
- Pillar 1: Reinforce regulatory frameworks and inter-agency coordination;
- Pillar 2: Prevention of violence with firearms and firearms misuse;
- Pillar 3: Life-cycle management of weapons, ammunition and explosives;
- Pillar 4: Investigation and criminal prosecution of trafficking, manufacture, possession and illicit use of firearms, ammunition, and explosives.
With the adoption of the document, participating States (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Dominican Republic) commit to working towards the achievement of a series of objectives and priority actions within these pillars by 2035.
The development of the Roadmap and its implementation is supported by the OAS and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), with technical support from the Central American Integration System (SICA) and was funded by the European Union.
For more information, please contact: secretary@unlirec.org.
