The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament, and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) held a two-day training session (30 and 31 July 2015) for representatives from 26 private security companies in El Salvador as part of the Technical Workshop on Good Practices and International Standards for the Management of Arms and Munitions Inventories of Private Security Companies.
The participants received training designed to incorporate security and control procedures in facilities where arms and ammunition belonging to private security companies are stockpiled with the goal of minimizing the risk of diversion. It is well known that lost or stolen arms and ammunition, from both government and private stocks, are an important source of illegal weaponry for unlawful and criminal purposes. This risk can be significantly reduced by implementing internationally accepted international standards and good practices. Therefore, training those in charge of the storage, control, transportation, and safe-keeping of firearms and ammunition in their respective companies is a matter of vital importance in terms of control and prevention.
The workshop – delivered by UNLIREC’s Public Security Programme team – covered firearms and ammunition classification, secure storage and inventory management, risk assessment, security plans, and notification of incidents, among other topics.
This workshop forms part of a recently launched project entitled ‘Strengthening Oversight and Building Capacities for Small Arms Control and Non-proliferation in the Private Security Sector’, which is financed by the Federal Republic of Germany. One of the main goals of this project implemented in association with the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) – is to promote internationally accepted standards, good practices, and initiatives, such as the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC) and the United Nations International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS).
By providing assistance to Latin American and Caribbean States, UNLIREC supports improvements in public security and the implementation of the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UN 2001 PoA).
For more information about UNLIREC, visit (www.unlirec.org) or contact Amanda Cowl, Political Affairs Officer, (cowl@unlirec.org).
Source: UNLIREC