Delegation of Kingdom of Cambodia Explores Best Practices in SALW Control During Study Visit in the Western Balkans

From December 10 to 17, 2024, a delegation of the Kingdom of Cambodia participated in a study visit to the Western Balkans, jointly organized by UNDP SEESAC and the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD). The Delegation was composed of eight representatives of the Ministry of Interior and led by H.E. Pol Gen POR Phak, State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior of Cambodia. The visit aimed to facilitate the exchange of best practices on small arms and light weapons (SALW) control and strengthen inter-regional cooperation. 

The delegation attended the 12th Regional SALW Roadmap Coordination Meeting on December 10–11 and the 20th Regional Meeting of SALW Commissions on December 12 in Skopje, North Macedonia. These meetings provided an opportunity to learn from the experiences of Southeast and Eastern Europe in implementing SALW control measures and regional coordination mechanisms. The regional meetings provided valuable information in the context of Cambodia’s role in the negotiations and the adoption of the ASEAN Declaration on combatting arms smuggling, in the context of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC). The participation in these regional meetings is also valuable to the process of drafting/ finalization of a ‘Regional Roadmap on Arms regulations’, led by the Philippines and the civil society organization Non-Violence International for Southeast Asia (NISEA), which aims to include states from other sub-regions such as South Asia and the Pacific.

The delegation had the opportunity to attend bilateral visits, a meeting with the members of SALW Commissions from North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on December 13, a separate meeting with the State Secretary of Ministry of Interior of North Macedonia and with representatives of the SALW Coordination Council and representatives of the Ministry of Interior of Serbia on 16-17 December 2024.

Discussions focused on lessons learned in the development and implementation of SALW control action plans, the functioning of weapons registry systems, and good practices in firearms licensing, inspections, and recordkeeping. The delegation also explored methods for detecting and investigating firearms-related crimes, crime scene investigations, ballistic examinations, and stockpile management practices through firsthand visits to forensic laboratories and to a weapons storage. 

This study visit was funded through the EU Council Decision 2022/2321 as part of UNDP SEESAC’s activities to strengthen interregional cooperation on arms control and through the EU Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/1965, in support of the UN Programme of Action on SALW and implemented by UNRCPD. This collaboration highlighted the importance of inter-regional information sharing and knowledge exchange in combating the illicit trade and misuse of small arms and light weapons.