Caribbean States strengthen their commitment to counter
Illicit firearms trafficking

Reduction in the high levels of armed violence is currently one of the main objectives of Caribbean States in the field of security. In this connection, many of the Caribbean governments have elaborated national strategies to tackle the proliferation of illicit firearms trafficking, which constitutes one of the main threats to public security.
The Caribbean region has one of the highest murder rates in the world. In February 2010, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a global analysis on homicide rates which revealed that these rates increased from 19.9 to 32.6 per 100,00 inhabitants between 2003 and 2008, contrary to the world trend of reduction and stabilization of these type of crimes.

The increase in the use of more deadly weapons has led to an ascent of mortality rates. A fundamental factor contributing to the growing prevalence of criminality in the region is drug trafficking, which facilitates the availability of firearms necessary for the protection and transport of smuggled goods and illicit drugs. In this context, and bearing in mind that an increase in demand for firearms is taking place, the illicit trade has become a challenge for Caribbean States.

According to the reports that the Latin American and Caribbean countries submit to the UN-Comtrade database, the imports of licit small arms and light weapons between 2001 and 2008 amounted to 1.5 million dollars. This number however is an underestimation when one takes into account that not all the countries report on their activities every year. Little is known about the firearms which enter the region in an illicit manner. The geography of the Caribbean requires an additional effort by the police forces given that they are small island States with extensive maritime borders, which remain vulnerable to the activities of criminal organizations.

Strengthening stockpile management and firearms destruction
In this context and responding to requests for assistance from States in the region, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-LiREC) initiated a technical assistance programme in 8 targeted States in the Caribbean to improve stockpile management and firearms, ammunition and explosives destruction procedures. This project benefited from the support of the Government of the United States.

During the first phase of the assistance programme, UN-LiREC experts conducted technical missions to the Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago to carry out joint evaluations with the national authorities on stockpile management and on the number of firearms, ammunition and explosives ready to be destroyed.

According to UN-LiREC’s Director, it is fundamental for the Regional Centre to provide the Caribbean States with technical assistance, which contributes to strengthening the national strategies on the control of illicit firearms trafficking. In a second phase, destruction of surplus, obsolete and confiscated weapons and the enhancing of the capacity of law enforcement personnel in the prevention and combating of illicit firearms trafficking are foreseen.

Coordinated action of the United Nations in Jamaica
In countries like Jamaica, insecurity in the streets is one of the government’s top concerns and one of the main obstacles to economic development. In 2009, the World Bank reported that the cost of criminality in this nation represented 5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to data supplied by the Jamaican Police Force - quoted by the Inter-American Observatory on Security of the Organization of American States (OAS) – in 2009, 62 homicides occurred per 100,000 inhabitants. Given that this situation has been ascending over the last decade - from 34 murders in the year 2000 to 62 in 2009 - the Jamaican government requested the support of different United Nations agencies in order to arrive at a solution to this, as well as to other social problems.

In response to this request, the strategic partners of the UN inter-agency taskforce for the Armed Violence Prevention Programme (AVPP) – with a mission to promote effective armed violenc prevention and responses founded upon the understanding of the dynamics and impact of armed violence and the context in which it thrives, as well as on best practices generated by armed violence prevention initiatives to date - carried out an inter-agency mission this September to Jamaica to assess the situation in the field and to gather first-hand information in order to propose a coordinated UN agency response to combating armed violence. Representatives of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organisation (WHO), UN-LiREC, UN-Habitat, UNICEF and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) participated in this mission in order to coordinate the creation of a joint project which aims at improving the armed violence indicators in Jamaica. Within this proposal, UN-LiREC will serve as the lead agency on firearms issues.

Gender issues
The Caribbean is no exception to the rule, the majority of the victims of firearms, as well as their perpetrators, are men. The increase in civilian ownership of firearms worries governments and law enforcement entities alike as women become potential victims of domestic violence. The increase in the cases of violence against women in the region constitutes proof of this tendency. According to a joint UNODC and World Bank report presented in 2007 “ Crime, Violence and Development: Trends, Costs and Policy Options in the Caribbean”, three Caribbean countries rank amongst the top 10 countries in the world in which most violations against women occur.
In order to strengthen UN-LiREC´s commitment to gender equality and to emphasize gender mainstreaming in its activities, the 1st Inter-Institutional Training Course for Combating Illicit Firearms Trafficking (IITC), organized exclusively for female law enforcement personnel of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, will take place from 22 November to 3 December in Lima, Peru.  This pioneering course for women, which is foreseen to be organized in other countries of the region, will include specialized modules on gender, UNSCR 1325 on women, peace and security, and the Secretary General’s campaign entitled “unite to end violence against women”, in addition to traditional IITC modules.

UN-LiREC in the Caribbean
The Firearms Destruction and Stockpile Management Assistance Package in the Caribbean includes:

• Elaboration of assessments that determine the capacity of States to control arms, ammunition and explosives in order to prevent their diversion through the design of physical infrastructure and periodic destruction, including through the analysis of national legislation.
• Technical assistance to improve stockpile management and firearms destruction
• Training for government officials on stockpile management and arms destruction best practices.
• Advice on the elaboration of the pilot National Action Plan on stockpile management and firearms destruction which includes the identification of the technical and financial resources necessary for its implementation.
• Creation of networks with other Caribbean governments to improve coordination and information exchange.