UNDP SEESAC presents its work funded by the EU at the Symposium on “Combating Illicit trade in SALW in the Arab Region: Developments, Challenges and Best Practices”

UNDP SEESAC presented its achievements in arms control in South East Europe (SEE) at the symposium on “Combating Illicit trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Arab Region: Developments, Challenges and Best Practices”,  organized on 29-30 May, 2016 in Cairo, Egypt by the League of Arab States in cooperation with Permanent Peace Movement based in Lebanon.

SEESAC’s presentation focused on the activities carried out mainly with the support of the European Union through the “EU Support of SEESAC Disarmament and Arms Control Activities in South East Europe (EUSAC)” project, highlighting the expertise provided in facilitating regional processes, trainings, producing knowledge tools and products and standardization efforts.

“This expertise is available and can be transferred to other regions and institutions through our newly established Regional Security Sector Reform Platform (RSSRP)”, UNDP SEESAC’s Project Coordinator Juliana Buzi said in her presentation as she responded to questions whether this expertise can be shared in  other parts of the world.

Among issues discussed during the two days meeting were the ongoing preparations for the Biennial Meeting of States 6 (BMS6) on the Programme of Action (PoA), review of progress at regional and national level by the Arab nations in implementing the PoA including challenges and best practices, as well as linkages of the UN PoA with other international instruments such as the International Tracing Instruments (ITI) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 16; Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) and Weapons collections practices from various countries were also presented. SEESAC’s presentation was delivered under Agenda item - International Cooperation and Assistance.

Organized on the occasion of “the 8th Annual Arab National Focal Points Meeting on SALW” and the “6th BMS to Consider Implementation of the UN Programme of Action (UNPoA) to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in SALW in All Its Aspects”, the symposium was attended by representatives from the League of Arab States but also several international and regional organizations working in the area of SALW Control including United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) , etc. The symposium was held with financial support of the German Government.