Regional Conference on Armed Violence Prevention
The Regional Cooperation Council has defined in their Strategic outlook at the priority areas of cooperation in South East Europe that:
'SEESAC’s area of engagement should be the launching of a regional programme that concentrates on armed violence prevention initiatives with a focus on community security. The regional programme will provide for the adoption of national policies on armed violence prevention. These national policies shall put an emphasis on concepts that tackle security issues at the community level.'
At the Regional Steering Group meeting in April 2009 the countries from the region have requested SEESAC, as part of the process for increased regional ownership, to provide them with an opportunity to review their progress in the field of armed violence prevention and identify possibilities for future projects.
SEESAC in cooperation with RACVIAC - Regional Centre for Security will organize in September 2009 a regional seminar on armed violence prevention. The overall objective of the seminar is to bring together representatives from the region with a view to discussing national strategies and programmes for armed violence prevention with a focus on community security.
The aims of the seminar are as follows:
- To share experiences and lessons learned in the development and implementation of armed violence prevention policies, strategies and programmes;
- To identify the areas for assistance, as well as capacity building needs in the countries of the region;
- To increase the cooperation within Southeastern Europe between governments, international organizations and civil society.
The regional conference will take place on 23-24 September 2009.
