United Nations Regional Disarmament Centre Signs Agreement to Help Argentina

Improve Capacity for Managing Small Arms, Ammunition Stockpiles

 

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), signed an agreement with Argentina’s Ministry of Security on 13 August to provide technical assistance in the area of small arms, light weapons and ammunition stockpile management.

Having begun with an introductory workshop for national authorities in Buenos Aires on the same day, the cooperation between UNLIREC and the Ministry was part of efforts to build the stockpile-management capacities of Government officials and to improve the infrastructure of facilities in which weapons, ammunition and explosives are stored.  Both aims are essential for preventing theft, loss and diversion as well as accidents.

The agreement was signed within the broader framework of the joint project for Capacity Building for the Planning of Citizen Security Policies, carried out by the Ministry of Security and the United Nations Development Programme.  UNLIREC’s assistance will entail undertaking baseline assessments of collaborative stockpile management with Ministry officials and federal security forces, and developing action plans to ensure that facilities and practices are in line with the draft United Nations International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS) and the United Nations International Ammunition Technical Guidelines (IATG).

Since 2004, UNLIREC has provided assistance in stockpile management and destruction to 14 Latin American and Caribbean Member States through assessment, capacity-building and the provision of equipment, resulting in the destruction of more than 475,000 surplus, obsolete and confiscated weapons, in addition to 600,000 rounds of ammunition.  The implementation of stockpile-management and destruction measures are key commitments undertaken by States within the framework of the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects.

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

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For information media • not an official record