Albania Establishes Commission for Small Arms and Light Weapons

Albania announced the establishment of its National Commission for Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) on 22 May 2017. The Commission is composed of several ministries and will be chaired by the Deputy Minister of Interior. The main role and responsibility of this Commission will be the development and monitoring of implementation of a National Strategy and Action Plan on SALW.

Supported by the European Union, SEESAC has strongly advocated for and supported the process of establishing Albania’s SALW Commission through provision of tailor made technical expertise but also through the regional cooperation process of SALW Commissions, which gather representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, Moldova, Serbia and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. These meetings enable information sharing, knowledge exchange and development of practical solutions to SALW control challenges. The 7th Regional SALW Commissions meeting was held in May in Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, gathering over 30 participants from the region including from relevant Albanian institutions to discuss SALW control policies and activities in the region and beyond.

The establishment of such coordination body by Albania is also a commitment under the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, which Albania adheres to.

 

Building and fostering confidence and cooperation in the region is a prerequisite for achieving concrete and measurable transformational change. In particular, at the regional level, the different processes facilitated by SEESAC, involving both policymakers and technical-level practitioners, have proven to be an essential ingredient in ensuring an enabling environment for knowledge transfer, expertise exchange and information-sharing.

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