SEESAC Celebrates 20 Years of Working in South-East Europe for a #SAFERREGION

On 8 May 2022, SEESAC celebrated 20 years of unwavering commitment to strengthening the capacities of stakeholders in South-East Europe to control and reduce the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons, and to advance gender equality.

Through its engagement, SEESAC has been facilitating regional cooperation and supporting governments to create a more effective, accountable, and inclusive security sector that serves as a bedrock of the rule of law.  

Today, SEESAC is the leading regional initiative in the field of security in South-East Europe.

The progress made is a direct result of our close partnership with the Governments in the Western Balkans, Republic of Moldova, Belarus, and Ukraine, ably facilitated by years-long support provided by the European Union, Germany, France, the United States of America, Norway, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, Sweden and the Netherlands.

SEESAC is a joint initiative of UNDP, Regional Cooperation Council and governments in South-East Europe. 

From its onset in 2002, SEESAC’s role has been that of an executive arm of the Regional Implementation Plan to Combat the Proliferation and Impact of Small Arms and Light Weapons and that of a focal point for SALW-related activities in South East Europe. By 2009, the scope of our work grew to include the advancement of gender equality in the security sector reform, thus also contributing to the Women, Peace and Security agenda. More recently, our geographic area of responsibility expanded to include Belarus and Ukraine as well.

 

 

In the course of our work, SEESAC supported governments in developing a number of signature solutions rooted in strong partnerships, local ownership, and regional coordination, thus contributing to the standardization of approaches and positioning the region among the global leaders in SALW control. Several of these solutions are now being replicated by other regions of the world, such as the Caribbean and the EU. Some of the key areas of tangible progress achieved include:

All of these results are cumulatively responsible for:

  • 22 million citizens in South East and East Europe living in a safer region.

 

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