The industry outreach seminar on licensing procedures for the import and export of arms, military equipment and dual-use goods was held on 12th December 2011, in the "Sava Centar" in Belgrade. The workshop was hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development (MERR) of the Republic of Serbia, with the support of the SEESAC and Germany’s Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), through the financial assistance provided by the Kingdom of Norway and the European Union respectively. BAFA is acting as the implementing agent of the EU cooperation programme in export control of dual-use goods mandated by the European Union.  ... read more

On 9 December, the final event of the ‘Less Arms, Less Tragedies’ campaign, which strarted four years ago in Split and has visited all Croatian cities since, took place.  Ongoing since 2007, the campaign has been a nationwide effort to prevent firearm-related tragedies by informing citizens about the real dangers of owning a weapon, and encouraging citizens to surrender illegal weapons to the police, without fearing legal consequences. The last phase of this effort by the Croatian Ministry of Interior (MoI) has been financed by the European Union through SEESAC and with the support of the UNDP Croatia.  ... read more

The Croatian Ministry of Interior destroyed additional 840 and 1,350 pieces of small arms and light weapons on 5 December and 8 December respectively. These destructions bring the total number of weapons destroyed during 2011 up to 13,545. The destruction activities are a part of a larger project, the aim of which is to improve safety through the collection and elimination of illegal and surplus small arms and light weapons (SALW) in Croatia. The project is implemented jointly by SEESAC, with support of UNDP Croatia, and the Croatian Ministry of Interior. The project envisions the total elimination of up to 30,000 small arms and light weapons in Croatia.  ... read more

The Women Police Officers Network (WPON) in South East Europe held its 2nd Annual Meeting 1-3 December 2011 in Becici. The meeting was jointly organized by UNDP/SEESAC, the South East Europe Police Chiefs Association (SEPCA) and the Police Directorate of Montenegro.  The meeting was opened by Mr. Veselin Veljovic, the Director of the Police Directorate of Montenegro and President SEPCA; Ms. Lovita Ramgutee, UNDP Montenegro Deputy Resident Representative; Mr. Zlatko Miletic, Executive Director of SEPCA; Ms. Jelena Vasiljevic, outgoing Chair of the WPON Executive Committee; and Ms. Jane Townsley, President of the International Association of Women Police (IAWP).   ... read more

On 29 November 2011, Ms. Kori Udovicki - UN Assistant Secretary-General, UNDP Assistant Administrator and UNDP Regional Director for Europe and CIS met with Mr. Veselin Veljovic - Director of the Police Directorate of Montenegro and President of Southeast Europe Police Chiefs Association (SEPCA). The meeting took place during the SEPCA donators conference, which UNDP took part in, and during which UNDP expressed interest in executing a portion of projects dedicated to strengthening capacities of regional police services. On this occasion, Ms. Udovicki and Mr. Veljovic signed a Memorandum of Understanding between UNDP and SEPCA, which provides a framework of cooperation and facilitates collaboration between the two organizations, on a non-exclusive basis, in areas of common interest.  ... read more

From 29 November through 1 December 2011, the Southeast Europe Police Chiefs Association (SEPCA) held its Annual Coordination Meeting in Becici, Montenegro. Ms. Jelena Vasiljevic, Chair of the Women Police Officers Network Executive Committee, presented before SEPCA the main activities implemented within the Women Police Officers Network project, which is a joint initiative of SEPCA and UNDP/SEESAC-Office for Human Security.  ... read more

On 28 November 2011 in Sarajevo, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Germany’s Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), and SEESAC jointly organized an industry outreach seminar for companies dealing in military and dual-use goods.  ... read more

On 23 November 2011, another 240 pieces of small arms and light weapons were destroyed in Croatia. The destruction is a part of a larger project, the aim of which is improvement of safety through collection and elimination of illegal and surplus small arms and light weapons (SALW) in Croatia. The project is implemented jointly by SEESAC, with support of UNDP Croatia, and the Croatian Ministry of Interior. The implementation of the project is made possible by the financial support of the European Union.   ... read more

On 22 November 2011, representatives of the Croatian Ministry of Interior (MoI), EU Delegation to the Republic of Croatia, UNDP in Croatia and SEESAC met to mark the finalization of the major security and infrastructure works in MURAT. MURAT is the Croatian Ministry of Interior’s Central Weapons Storage, upgraded as a part of the SEESAC led and EU funded activity aimed at improving the control of arms and their ammunitions in Croatia.  ... read more

On 18 November, the third and final module of the Regional Training Course on Stockpile Management, organized by SEESAC with the support of UNDP BiH, was concluded. During this week-long training, 19 operations-level officials from the ministries of defense and interior of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia learned about Stockpile Facilities and Transportation of SALW and Associated Ammunition.  ... read more