Nov 13, 2014 | Uncategorized
On 13 November 2014 UNLIREC organized a roundtable on incorporating gender and youth approaches when implementing the United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms (PoA) and the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The roundtable, which was organized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, responded to requests by States in the region for UNLIREC support to their implementation of international conventional arms regulation and control and instruments.
With financial support from Australia, the roundtable assembled 23 representatives from governments, international organizations and academia, bringing together expertise on gender and conventional arms control. Experts gathered to review existing laws, policies and implementation mechanisms for controlling arms and preventing armed violence, particularly gender-based violence.
The roundtable highlighted good practices in incorporating gender and youth approaches in disarmament and arms control programmes, and evaluated practical ways to include gender in export assessments covered by the ATT.
The feedback received during this roundtable will help to enhance the gender-sensitive approaches mainstreamed in UNLIREC’s new ‘ATT Implementation Course’ and accompanying simulation exercises. This three-day course, which has been successfully piloted and is now available to requesting States, complements resources provided by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA).
The perspectives and best practices exchanged during the expert roundtable will also be used to make UNLIREC’s new ‘export assessment tool’ more effective in reducing the risk of weapons being used to commit acts of violence, particularly against women and youth.
States in Latin America and the Caribbean have made considerable progress in the implementation of the PoA, which was adopted by the United Nations in 2001 as an instrument to prevent and combat trafficking in small arms and light weapons. Those States have also been strong supporters of the ATT, which was adopted in 2013 and will enter into force on 24 December 2014.
To date, the following 15 States Latin America and the Caribbean have ratified the Treaty: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay.
For more information on UNLIREC visit (www.unlirec.org.) Please direct all questions or inquiries to: Ms Amanda Cowl, Political Affairs Officer, at (cowl@unlirec.org).
Oct 10, 2014 | Uncategorized
In response to requests by States in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to help prepare them for the implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) has developed a practical training course on ATT Implementation (“ATT Implementation Course”). The course complements resources provided by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), including the UNODA ATT implementation toolkit. The training course was piloted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in San Jose, Costa Rica, from 8-10 October 2014. National operators dealing with the control of imports and exports of conventional arms attended the training, alongside relevant officials from other Central American States.
With financial support from Germany and Spain, the training course is available for interested States throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. It aims to assist States in their efforts to create national control lists and responsibly evaluate the risks involved in conventional arms transfers, with modules on various topics including the technical aspects of conventional arms and their trade, legal requirements of treaty implementation, and arms transfer risk assessments.
The course also features a unique practical simulation, where participants play various roles to review transfer ‘cases’, and apply tools introduced in the classroom to determine whether the transfers should be ‘authorized’. In addition, a model end-user certificate drawing on global best practices is provided to Member States as a starting point for strengthening arms transfer controls. German funding has made possible an English-language version of the course, adapted to the Caribbean context, which will be piloted to assist Caribbean States.
Since the beginning of the ATT process over a decade ago, States in Latin America and the Caribbean have been highly active in supporting the Treaty. So far, the following 15 States have ratified the Treaty: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay. Having secured the requisite 50 ratifications, the Treaty will enter into force on 24 December 2014.
For more information on UNLIREC visit (www.unlirec.org.) Please direct all questions or inquiries to: Ms Amanda Cowl, Political Affairs Officer, at (cowl@unlirec.org).
Feb 27, 2014 | Uncategorized
On 27 February 2014, UNLIREC and the Government of Mexico convened a meeting of national stakeholders at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs to discuss various initiatives to promote implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty. The meeting was presided by the Director General for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights Juan Sandoval and UNLIREC Political Affairs Officer Amanda Cowl. The meeting brought together representatives from Foreign Affairs, Interior, National Defense, the Navy, Economy, the Office of the Attorney General, Customs and Federal Police to discuss UNLIREC proposals for an ATT implementation training course and a model end user certificate for legal arms transfers in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
UNLIREC presented its draft course manual for training Latin American and Caribbean government officials on methodologies to support implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty once ratified. The proposed course, which is being developed with the financial support of Germany, includes modules on technical aspects of conventional arms and their trade, legal requirements of treaty implementation and arms transfer risk assessments aimed at national operators responsible for import/export controls. Mexican authorities made recommendations on course design and offered their experts from a number of relevant fields to serve as expert instructors in other Latin American and Caribbean countries. Additionally, UNLIREC staff and experts presented a proposed model end-user certificate – drawing on best practices compiled from Latin America, Europe and North America – that will be offered to Member States as a starting point for the development of arms transfer controls by conventional arms importing states.
On 2 April 2013, the General Assembly adopted the landmark Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), regulating the international trade in conventional arms, from small arms to battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships. The treaty will foster peace and security by inter alia curbing the diversion of small arms and light weapons to the region, which wreaks havoc on citizen security. As well, the Treaty aims at preventing human rights abusers and violators of the law of war from being supplied with arms and will help keep warlords, pirates, and gangs from acquiring these deadly tools. Since the beginning of the ATT process almost ten years ago, Latin American and Caribbean States have been at the vanguard in wholeheartedly supporting the Treaty and its implementation. As of February 2014, 27 Latin American and Caribbean countries have signed the ATT with the following countries having ratified: Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Grenada, Guyana, Mexico, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago.
UNLIREC, as the regional office of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean and to support Member States in the region in their implementation of international disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, including the UN 2001 Programme of Action on Illicit Small Arms and Light Weaponsand the Arms Trade Treaty.
For more information about UNLIREC, visit its web page [www.unlirec.com]. For any questions, contact Amanda Cowl, Political Affairs Officer, at [cowl@unlirec.org].
Mar 18, 2013 | Uncategorized
La Asamblea General convocará una Conferencia Final de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Tratado sobre el Comercio de Armas (TCA), del 18 al 28 de marzo de 2013 en Nueva York, “con el fin de elaborar un instrumento jurídicamente vinculante con los más elevados estándares internacionales comunes para la transferencia de armas convencionales”. La Conferencia Final tiene como objetivo concluir el proceso del TCA, después del fracaso en la Conferencia del TCA en julio de 2012 para llegar a un acuerdo acerca del proyecto del tratado. La designación de la “Conferencia Final” señala la intención de los Estados Miembros de llevar las negociaciones a buen término.
Las negociaciones del TCA representan la primera vez que los Estados se reúnen para negociar un tratado que regule las armas convencionales bajo el auspicio de las Naciones Unidas. Las discusiones se han llevado a cabo desde 2006. La meta es la adopción de un tratado que sea sólido y jurídicamente vinculante, y que tendrá un impacto real en las vidas de millones de personas que sufren las consecuencias del conflicto y violencia armada, delincuencia e inseguridad. Las organizaciones no gubernamentales, tales como grupos de derechos humanos y de desarrollo, las organizaciones de control de armas y los simpatizantes de los derechos a portar armas, han demostrado un interés claro en las negociaciones del TCA, así como las industrias de fabricación y comercio de armas.
Las negociaciones del TCA no están libres de problemas. El comercio mundial de armas tiene ramificaciones que tocan los intereses nacionales fundamentales. Aquí existen varias preocupaciones y perspectivas legítimas en juego. Asimismo, existen ideas equivocadas acerca de las metas del TCA impulsadas por detractores, en particular por algunos sectores de la sociedad civil que reclaman, por ejemplo, que “las Naciones Unidas tomará las armas de los ciudadanos obedientes de la ley”. La Secretaría de las Naciones Unidas ofrece un lugar para estas conversaciones entre los representantes de Gobiernos y facilita sus reuniones – pero no forma parte de las negociaciones.
La Oficina de Asuntos de Desarme de las Naciones Unidas mantiene una página web (solo en inglés): www.un.org/disarmament/ATT.
Para mayor información sobre UNLIREC visite (www.unlirec.org). En caso de alguna consulta por favor contacte a: Amanda Cowl, Oficial de Asuntos Políticos (cowl@unlirec.org).
