United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament in Asia, Pacific to Host Illicit Trafficking of Small Arms, Light Weapons Seminar, 19-20 December

NEW YORK, 18 December (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific and the Government of Cambodia are jointly organizing a Regional Seminar on Illicit Trafficking and Diversion of Small Arms and Light Weapons and Other Conventional Arms and Ammunition in South‑East Asia.  The Seminar will be held from 19 to 20 December in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

This capacity‑building seminar is a response to requests made by several Member States in South‑East Asia to organize a sub‑regional meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) States and Timor‑Leste with the ASEAN Association of Chiefs of Police secretariat to find ways to address diversion and illicit trafficking of small arms and their ammunition.

The Seminar will foster regional dialogue among South‑East Asian States and explore possibilities for strengthening sub‑regional cooperation and coordination in this area.  Experts from national law enforcement agencies will engage with representatives from the ASEAN Association of Chiefs of Police, the secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty, the Office for Disarmament Affairs, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Customs Organization, research institutions and non‑governmental organizations to identify ways and means to effectively address small arms and light weapons diversion, and reduce illicit arms flows to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Target 16.4 (“by 2030 significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen recovery and return of stolen assets, and combat all forms of organized crime”).

The Seminar is made possible with financial support from the Government of Germany.

For further information, please contact Yuriy Kryvonos, Director of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, at e-mail:  info@unrcpd.org.