SEESAC Presents its Activities at the Regional Seminar on Best Practices in Reducing Armed Violence in Europe

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.

Approximately fifty delegates from the South Eastern European countries, as well as representatives from numerous European countries, international organizations and NGOs attended the seminar.

The seminar was opened by Dr. Mario Nobilo, state secretary for political affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Mrs. Louisa Vinton, UN resident coordinator and resident representative to Croatia and Mr. Denis Knobel, the ambassador of the Swiss Confederation to the Republic of Croatia.

Yukiko Yamada attended the seminar on behalf of SEESAC and presented SEESAC’s mandate and current small arms control activities. Mrs. Yamada highlighted the linkages between small arms control and the reduction and prevention of armed violence. Furthermore, Mrs. Yamada presented specific SEESAC project that directly lead to better small arms control in South Eastern Europe, among them the regional stockpile management course, the publication of national and regional arms exports reports, and the SALW destruction activities. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session and an experience and lessons learned exchange among the participants.

The aim of the seminar was to assess the progress of global achievements in armed violence reduction and prevention, and to promote best practices in armed violence monitoring tools and reduction programming. The seminar will directly contribute to the preparation of the Ministerial Review Conference being held in Geneva from 31 October to 1 November 2011.