DEPARTMENT FOR DISARMAMENT AFFAIRS CONVENES SECOND MEETING OF THE COORDINATING ACTION ON SMALL ARMS MECHANISM
Press Release
DC/2620
DEPARTMENT FOR DISARMAMENT AFFAIRS CONVENES SECOND MEETING OF THE COORDINATING ACTION ON SMALL ARMS MECHANISM
19981127 NEW YORK, 25 November (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- On 24 November the Department for Disarmament Affairs convened the second meeting of the mechanism for Coordinating Action on Small Arms (CASA). The Secretary- General has designated the Department for Disarmament Affairs as the focal point within the United Nations system to coordinate all action on small arms. The CASA was established as the mechanism for implementing the decision of the Secretary-General in this area (see Press Release DC/2611 of 14 August).The Department for Disarmament Affairs presented an overview of the implementation of priorities for the coordination of action on small arms. Members of CASA provided updates on progress achieved in their respective areas of responsibility.
The Department of Public Information (DPI) is taking the lead in the production of a United Nations television documentary film on small arms which is expected to be completed in May 1999. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is similarly taking the lead in preparations for a mobile exhibit on small arms and children which will concentrate on the human rights, humanitarian, disarmament and demobilization, peace-building and security dimensions of the impact of small arms on children. The project is expected to be completed in mid-June 1999. The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict will assist with both efforts.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is promoting an initiative on the humanitarian implications of small arms at the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. The OCHA has submitted a paper to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Working Group with proposals for action in the area of advocacy on humanitarian grounds and the collection of data essential for an effective advocacy programme. The CASA will be updated on the initiative of OCHA within the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Working Group. The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict is encouraging collaborative research to assess the impact of small arms and light weapons on children, with a view to constructing concrete initiatives on the ground.
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The Department for Disarmament Affairs noted that the Government of Switzerland had agreed to provide $40,000 towards the production costs of the documentary film and the Government of Andorra had pledged $23,000 towards the costs of the exhibit. It informed the members that a representative of the Post-Conflict Unit of the World Bank would join CASA.
Participants at the CASA meeting were also briefed by the Alternate Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the United Nations, Luis Raúl Estévez-López, and by Walter Linder, Minister Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations, on the 18 to 20 November Workshop in Guatemala City on "Weapons collection and reintegration of former combatants into civil society -- the experiences of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Colombia" (see Press Release DC/2619 of 23 November). The Governments of Norway, Italy and Germany provided financial support for the Workshop, which was organized by the Department for Disarmament Affairs in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala.
Further information on CASA and small arms can be retrieved on the page of the Conventional Arms Branch of the Department for Disarmament Affairs on the United Nations Home Page: "http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/CAB/index.htm".
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