United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development Helps

 

Caribbean States Enhance Management of Small Arms Stockpiles

 

NEW YORK, 1 July (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — The Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), jointly inaugurated the Caribbean Regional Armoury Management Training Centre in Port-of-Spain on 28 June.

The initiative is part of the UNLIREC Caribbean Firearms Assistance Package which provides technical assistance to help Caribbean States combat illicit small arms and light weapons.  The Regional Armoury Training Centre will serve as an important facility for enhancing the long-term capacities of Caribbean States in technical armoury management across the region.  That component of the Assistance Package was made possible through a grant from the United States Department of State.

UNLIREC organized the first armoury management course in Trinidad and Tobago, from 17 to 28 June, with the aim of increasing participants’ capacity to manage, secure, inspect and destroy small arms and light weapons and their ammunition, in line with international standards.  It will cooperate with Trinidad and Tobago in conducting a similar regional training course for 13 countries across the Caribbean from 18 to 29 November.

Located in Lima, Peru, UNLIREC is the regional entity of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.  It seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its commitment to support Member States in their implementation of international disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, in particular the 2001 United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms.

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

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For information media • not an official record