SEESAC Attends the Parliamentary Forum General Assembly

On 14-15 December, SEESAC attended the General Assembly of the Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) held in Stockholm. Marking the 10th Anniversary of the Forum’s existence, members of parliaments concerned with the issue of SALW control from across the world gathered to review developments and exchange ideas on topics such as SALW and risk management, women’s participation in disarmament and SALW control issues, and action on armed violence among others.

On this occasion, Dr. Ivan Zverzhanovski – UNDP/SEESAC Team Leader addressed the Parliamentary Forum members familiarizing them with UNDP/SEESAC’s achievements in SALW control in the course of the past two years.

During this session, the Forum held elections for its new Board. Making a particular effort to ensure fair representation, the Forum members elected the board that consists of two members from South America, two members from Africa, two members from Europe and one from the Middle East. Furthermore, the newly elected Board is for the first time majority female, and is headed by the Honorable Ala Talabani from Iraq. With such constellation, the forum is well positioned to dedicate particular attention to the issue of women in disarmament and SALW control issues.

The Parliamentary Forum began its work in South East Europe (SEE) in 2007 and has since relied on SEESAC to conduct work and involve parliamentarians from the region. Given its mandate and operation activities, SEESAC is a natural regional partner to the Global Parliamentary Forum on SALW in the execution of a common goal, and SEESAC administers the Western Balkans Parliamentary Forum (WBPF).  Today close to 60% of the Forum’s European members are from SEE.

The mission of the WBPF is to support members of parliament (MPs) in their SALW related work, contribute to the advancement of the small arms agenda, and provide a space for parliamentarians to meet and join forces with other stakeholders and actors, such as Members of the European Parliament and civil society organizations.

In its role, SEESAC has not only served as a secretariat for the activities of the WBPF, but has made its technical and police related knowledge on SALW control issues available to the participating MPs. Subsequently, SEESAC’s network of regional and international experts as well as partners in relevant national institutions was made available to the WBPF.