The Women Police Officers Network in South East Europe (WPON) Working Group met for two days, from 29 September until 1 October 2011 in Arandjelovac, Serbia to jointly develop guidelines for gender sensitive police practice.  The working group analyzed questionnaire inputs, provided by seven police services in South Eastern Europe, on existing policies and practices related to the recruitment, selection, retention and professional development for women in police services. Based on the analysis, the group developed draft guidelines which will be finalized by the end of 2011. The Guidelines will help police services in SEE to attract more qualified women into the police profession and improve their career prospects within it.  ... read more

SEESAC was invited to present its regional activities at the Regional Seminar on Best Practices in Reducing Armed Violence in Europe held in Zagreb. The seminar was hosted by the Government of Croatia in cooperation with UNDP and the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence, with the financial support of the Government of Switzerland.  ... read more

On 16 September 2011, a further 1,509 pieces of small arms and light weapons were destroyed at the CMC Sisak Steel Mill, Croatia. The destruction took place under SEESAC's EU funded arms control programme, which supports, among other activities, the improvement of safety through collection and elimination of illegal and surplus SALW in Croatia. In Croatia, activities are implemented jointly by UNDP Croatia and the Croatian Ministry of Interior in close cooperation with SEESAC and with the financial support of the European Union.  ... read more

"Female Staff Association in the Security Sector: Agents of Change?" is the title of the latest in the series of Occasional Papers published by The Centre for Security, Development and the Rule of Law (DCAF).  The paper examines the structures, mandates and activities of 67 female staff associations and networks in the security sector, analyses whether and how they meet members' needs, and gauges the effect or influence they have had on changing policies and practices in their institutions and in the communities they serve.   ... read more

The recent explosion at the ammunitions storage site in Cyprus that killed 13 and injured 60 people is a sobering reminder of how important it is that weapons and ammunition be kept in appropriate facilities and that they are handled by well trained professionals.  This is precisely why the South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC), with the support of UNDP Bosnia and Herzegovina, has organized a regional training course on stockpile management for members of the ministries of defence and interior from the Western Balkans region.   ... read more

This study analyses the production of national and regional reports on arms exports by the European Union (EU) member states and states in South Eastern Europe. The study discusses different formats used in these reports, the levels of transparency achieved and makes recommendations for possible future improvements. The main purpose of publishing national and regional reports on arms exports is to contribute to an understanding of how export criteria are being interpreted at the national level. This is intended to allow parliamentarians, the media, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), interested citizens and other states to monitor a government's compliance with its national and international obligations in this area.   ... read more

Within the scope of capacity development and networking activities undertaken under the UNDP/SEESAC project "Support for Gender Mainstreaming in Policing Practice in SEE" project, the Executive Committee of the Women Police Officers Network in South East Europe (WPON) is attending the Annual Conference of the International Association of Women Police (IAWP). The conference is taking place in Lexington, Kentucky from 21 to 25 August 2011. Attendance at the conference will enhance the capacity of WPON Executive Committee through both practical training and global networking opportunities Participation at this imporant event of WPON Chair, Ms. Jelena Vasiljevic (Ministry of Interior of Republic of Serbia), WPON Deputy Chair, Ms. Lidija Pentavec (Ministry of Interior of Republic of Croatia) and WPON Chair Elect, Ms. Sanja Sumonja (BiH -Republika Srpska) is supported by UNDP/SEESAC.  ... read more

The Ministry of Economy and Regional Development of the Republic of Serbia produced their fourth annual report on export and import of weapons, military equipment and dual-use goods. The report provides an overview of the exports and imports of controlled goods in the period 1 January to 31 December 2009. The report provides detailed information on the national legislation in the field of international transfers of controlled goods, basis of the import-export control system in Serbia, information about international cooperation and activities for further development of the control system.  ... read more

A central element of any national export control strategy is to ensure that entities involved in the trade of controlled goods are both able and willing to carry out their activities in accordance with national export control legislation. With this in mind, many governments seek to enshrine an ‘export control culture’ among the relevant companies. One of the important ways in which this is accomplished is through government support of company internal compliance systems, or ICPs. In the following report, "Internal Compliance Programmes," SEESAC research team provides an overview various existing ICP requirements in four countries and one company. Using these examples, the report explores the role of the key aspects of a successful internal compliance system, namely:  ... read more

On 26 July 2011, an official ceremony was held at the Ministry of Interior in Skopje for the handover of a storage facility for safekeeping of ammunition cartridge cases. The upgrade of the storage facility was supported by the European Union (EU) under the EU Council Decision 2010/179/CFSP and implemented by UNDP/SEESAC. Minister of Interior, Gordana Jankuloska, received the donation on behalf of the authorities of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.  Minister-Counselor Dieter Thiel, head of Operations at the European Union Delegation in F.Y.R. Macedonia participated on behalf of the EU, while Ms. Deirdre Boyd, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the F.Y.R. Macedonia represented the UNDP.  ... read more