On 4-5 November 2020, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in collaboration with Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Peru and Bolivia, carried out a binational workshop on preventing and combating illicit trafficking in firearms and ammunition.
Over 60 officials from various national agencies with responsibilities for implementation of arms and ammunition control measures participated in the workshop, some of them with responsibilities related to border controls and cooperation to prevent illicit cross-border movements of firearms and ammunition.
The workshop highlighted the relevance of marking and tracing of small arms and ammunition as key control measures to combat illicit trafficking.
UNLIREC presented marking and tracing obligations as covered under international instruments, technical guidelines, standards and regional best practices and an introduction to forensic ballistics, automated comparison systems, and the role of the expert in providing technical and statistical support to policy makers tackling small arms control. INTERPOL joined the event and delivered a presentation on its Firearms Programme and specific tracing tools to facilitate international firearm tracing activities.
This workshop contributes to Peru and Bolivia´s efforts against illicit arms and ammunition trafficking and to encourage cooperation and coordination among agencies with responsibilities in the implementation of arms and ammunition control measures at national and binational levels.
This workshop forms part of the “Combatting Illicit Firearms and Ammunition trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean” project and its implementation is possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of Germany.