Regional Centre Assists Caribbean States in Strengthening Maritime Border Controls

to Combat Illicit Small Arms Trafficking

 

NEW YORK, 19 June (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — On 21-22 June 2012, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) will convene a Round Table on Combating Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons through Strengthened Border Controls.  The Round Table will be held in collaboration with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, and with the support of Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Thirteen Caribbean States and international experts will gather in Port of Spain to discuss how best to strengthen national capacities and promote regional cooperation to combat the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons and their ammunition by focusing on maritime border controls.

The participants will identify practical steps to address the challenges Caribbean States face in combating the trafficking of illicit small arms and light weapons in a regional context dominated by maritime borders and island States.  The Round Table will also consider substantive inputs to the 2012 Review Conference of the Programme of Action on Illicit Small Arms.

UNLIREC will present its draft module on combating illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons and border management.  When completed, the module will become an integral part of UNLIREC’s award-winning Inter-Institutional Course on Combating Illicit Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition and Explosives.

This meeting forms part of UNLIREC’s Firearms Assistance Package to Caribbean States, which began in 2010, with the financial support of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.  This Assistance Package strengthens a State capacity to implement relevant international and regional disarmament instruments, most notably the United Nations Programme of Action on Illicit Small Arms and the Inter-American Convention against Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms.

For more information on UNLIREC, visit www.unlirec.org.  Please direct all questions or inquiries to Amanda Cowl, Political Affairs Officer, at e-mail:  cowl@unlirec.org.

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For information media • not an official record