GABON TO HOST MEETING OF UNITED NATIONS STANDING ADVISORY COMMITTEE

 

ON SECURITY QUESTIONS IN CENTRAL AFRICA, 4-8 MAY

The United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa will hold its twenty-eighth ministerial meeting in Libreville, Gabon, from 4 to 8 May.

Established by the Secretary-General on 28 May 1992, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 46/37 B of 6 December 1991, the Committee’s primary objective is to promote peace and security in Central Africa through confidence-building measures, including disarmament and arms limitation.

The meeting will consider recent developments in the geopolitical and security situation in selected Member States, the Committee’s achievements and future plans, and the promotion of disarmament and arms limitation programmes in Central Africa.  It will also consider disarmament and security projects in Central Africa, including progress in implementing the two components of the Sao Tomé Initiative.

In connection with the first component, which calls for the development and adoption of a legal instrument to control small arms and light weapons in Central Africa, the meeting will consider a basic document, drafted in a non-legal format and containing elements drawn from similar legal instruments.  The meeting will also amend and consolidate the draft code of conduct for defence and security forces in Central Africa, with a view to its official adoption.

Participants in the meeting include ministers and Government experts and observers from the United Nations Secretariat and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).  Also attending will be representatives from United Nations missions and offices in the subregion:  the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC); United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT); United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB); and the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA)), in addition to representatives from the Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA), the International Organization of la Francophonie (OIF), the Permanent Secretariat of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the African Union.

The Committee’s membership comprises the following Member States:  Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Rwanda and Sao Tomé and Principe.  Gabon will serve as Chairman of the Committee at its twenty-eighth ministerial meeting.

For further information, please contact the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), tel.: 228 253 50 00; e-mail: mail@unrec.org.

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For information media • not an official record