From 4-5 December, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in collaboration with the Government of Peru, held a national seminar on ammunition control measures in the city of Lima.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the constant supply, availability, and proliferation of ammunition to all potential violent actors are a sine qua non for having the highest rates of armed violence in the world. Not only are firearms used more frequently in homicides in Latin America and the Caribbean than in other parts of the world, the same applies to ammunition. Stopping the adverse effects of ammunition proliferation on human security and economic and social development is only possible if the States include ammunition in their arms control policies, with the differentiated treatment they require.
During the seminar, international guidelines and recognized regional good practices on conventional ammunition control were presented, which allowed for discussion of relevant challenges and opportunities for national ammunition control and regulation. Moreover, this space allowed national authorities responsible for ammunition control to discuss needs and priorities in relation to the safe and responsible management of ammunition and, if necessary, to open a space for cooperation and mutual coordination.
The Seminar brought together different national institutions responsible for the control, regulation and management of conventional weapons ammunition, such as the National Superintendence of Control of Security Services, Arms, Ammunition and Explosives for Civil Use (SUCAMEC), the Purchasing Agency and the Joint Command of the Armed Forces (ACFFAA), the National Army Ammunition Center (CEMUNE), the Naval Readiness Directorate of the Peruvian Navy, the War Material Service of the Peruvian Air Force (FAP), the Army Weapons and Ammunition Factory (FAME), the Department of Arms, Ammunition and Explosives of the Logistics Division and the Ballistics Department of the Peruvian National Police, of the Customs Control Division of the National Superintendence of Tax Administration (SUNAT). International experts from the Ministry of the Interior and Police of the Dominican Republic and the Federal Police of Brazil also participated.
The implementation of this project is possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.