As part of UNLIREC’s efforts to support to the Government of Honduras in improving public security and implementing the Security Strategy of the Central American Integration System (SICA), UNLIREC undertook two initiatives in November 2012, thanks to the financial support provided by the Governments of Finland and Germany.
From 5 to 16 November, UNLIREC´s Inter Institutional Training Course on Combating the Illicit Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition and Explosives (IITC) trained 62 security sector personnel (46 men and 16 women) from a diverse range of law enforcement and justice entities. Participants received specialized training from international and national experts in weapons and ammunition identification, investigation and tracing techniques, firearms and ammunition evidence management. The training was delivered in the context of international, regional and national legal frameworks to combat illicit firearms trafficking, as well as human security and human rights. The ten-day course culminated in a two-day simulation exercise where participants had to intervene, prepare and prosecute a case of illicit weapons trafficking in full coherence with the rule of law and respect for human rights and the rights of minors.
Additionally, UNLIREC co-organized on 14 November a high-level policy seminar on disarmament, firearms control and armed violence reduction jointly with the National Secretariat for Public Security and the United Nations Development Programme. The seminar presented contemporary policy frameworks designed to enhance small arms control and armed violence reduction efforts. Lessons were drawn from Brazil´s National Disarmament Campaign and El Salvador´s Weapons-Free Municipalities intervention. Both experiences were assessed in terms of their applicability to the Honduran context. During the seminar, H.E. Coralia Rivera, Vice-Minister for Security, told participants “that the recommendations put forth during the seminar would be taken into consideration during future legal reforms.”
For more information on UNLIREC visit (www.unlirec.org).
Please direct all inquiries to: Ms. Carina Van Vliet, Political Affairs Officer, at (vanvliet@unlirec.org).