Jul 17, 2018 | Uncategorized
The impact of armed violence on children and adolescents has become a major challenge for Latin America and the Caribbean. In Brazil, for instance, an estimated 39 adolescent homicides are recorded every day, with the vast majority of these victims being Afro-Brazilian adolescents and young people from peri-urban areas.
On 17-18 July, 2018, in order to tackle this issue and find innovative solutions, UNICEF Brazil held the International Workshop entitled “Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents Affected by Armed Violence in Brazilian Urban Centres” in Rio de Janeiro.
During this workshop, different specialists considered global, regional and local perspectives when addressing the characteristics, contexts, manifestations, impacts and challenges of armed violence affecting that population group, with particular emphasis on Brazil. Other topics of discussion included a series of initiatives and good practices in the region regarding armed violence prevention and reduction, as well as a series of mechanisms to enhance responses aimed at guaranteeing safe environments for children and adolescents, with the focus being placed on the protection of their rights.
Within this framework, UNLIREC presented the preliminary findings of its ongoing research project on the phenomenon of Weapons in Schools, a problem that is present in varying degrees throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. In recent years, public opinion, studies and specialized diagnoses have all identified the presence of firearms in schools as a risk factor for the creation and reproduction of violence in such environments. In that regard, UNLIREC made reference to the various manifestations of this phenomenon and shared the responses and projects that some Governments and other actors in the region have been implementing to address and prevent the presence of firearms and armed violence in schools.
The event concluded with participants acknowledging the need to move forward with interventions concerning armed violence prevention. These interventions must be based on the protection of the rights of children and adolescents and should be comprehensive, focused, coordinated and inclusive, especially at the local level. Another noteworthy point was the need to remain focused on and to consider the structural factors influencing armed violence in communities. Participants also noted the importance of making greater efforts to enhance and develop more effective controls governing the use and proliferation of firearms and ammunition.
There were over 100 workshop participants from public institutions, civil society organizations, young people and adolescents from Rio de Janeiro and other Brazilian states, as well as representatives from specialized UN agencies, guests and international experts.
Jun 21, 2018 | Uncategorized
From June 21-22, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), in cooperation with its Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America, hosted a training workshop on the high-level fissile material cut-off treaty expert preparatory group consultative process. The workshop took place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
Caribbean government officials from Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Saint Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, working in the area of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear security, as well as representatives from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL), participated in the workshop on the high-level FMCT expert preparatory group consultative process.
The workshop was made possible with the financial support from the European Union pursuant to Council Decision 2017/2284 “to provide support to States in the African, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and Caribbean regions to participate in the high-level fissile material cut-off treaty expert preparatory group consultative process”.
UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, 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 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.
Jun 21, 2018 | Uncategorized
From June 21-22, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), conducted a Firearm Marking Technical Meeting two activities in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
The marking of firearms and ammunition is a long-standing practice carried out by the manufacturers themselves, as a way to distinguish the quality of their products from other manufacturers. Marking firearms also provides basic information about the manufacturer and the different actors that participated in the legal trade in arms and ammunition, facilitates traceability of the weapon in time and geographic space, from its manufacture to its last legal representative, and, identifies a weapon, and establishes relations between it and a crime, facilitating criminal investigation processes. The marking of small arms is an obligation for states in several international instruments, including the: Firearms Protocol (2001), the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA) 1997, Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PoA) 2001 and the International Tracing Instrument (ITI) 2005.
UNLIREC convened the Firearm Marking Technical Meeting to highlight the marking of firearms and ammunition as a key small arms ammunition control measure to prevent diversion of licit weapons, improve accountability and enhance the traceability of illicit weapons. The Inter-institutional meeting also sought to strengthen the awareness and coordination of security sector authorities.
The Meeting and practical marking exercise include representatives of the Police Service, Prison Service, Forensic Science Centre, Customs and Excise Department and Ministry of National Security. UNLIREC demonstrated the practical use of its Laser Marking Machine to mark firearms according to national and international guidelines for the marking of firearms. Participants were able to observe the representative of the Forensic Science Centre utilising Fry’s reagent to recover the ‘serial number‘ from an obsolete weapon that was marked using the laser machine, then had the numbers obliterated using a metal grinder. The recovery of the ‘serial number’ demonstrated the recoverability of erased laser markings on weapons.
The Firearm Marking Technical Meeting is part of UNLIREC’s Combat of Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons and Ammunition in the Caribbean which is made possible thanks to the support of the government of Germany.
UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, 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 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.
Jun 21, 2018 | Uncategorized
The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), in cooperation with its Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), are organising a training workshop on the high-level fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT) expert preparatory group consultative process. The workshop will take place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from 21 to 22 June 2018.
Caribbean government officials working in the area of weapons of mass destruction and/or nuclear security issues as well as representatives from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) will participate in the workshop.
The workshop aims to facilitate dialogue at the sub-regional level among member states and regional organisations on the implications of a future treaty and its relationship with already existing global and regional instruments. It will also allow for sharing of knowledge and information on issues relevant to banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices and will provide an opportunity to exchange views, and discuss challenges and ways ahead in relation to a future treaty. The meeting will also address potential components of a future FMCT and will thereby increase the capacity of States to participate in potential future FMCT negotiations.
The workshop is made possible thanks to the generous financial support from the European Union.
May 21, 2018 | Uncategorized
The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) is moving forward in Mexico with the implementation of activities under its project entitled Oversight and Building Capacities for Small Arms Control and Non-proliferation in the Private Security Sector.
From 21-25 May 2018, UNLIREC carried out a series of activities to promote good governance in the private security sector. Federal and state authorities, as well as private security entrepreneurs, attended this Executive Seminar, which addressed good practices, international standards and norms that strengthen arms control and contribute, not only to better regulate the private security sector, but also to its professionalization.
With a view to educating the technical staff of private security companies, as well as private security regulators at the state level, UNLIREC hosted a two-day technical workshop for employees responsible for the oversight and stockpile management. More than 50 officials were trained on how to incorporate physical security procedures at weapons and ammunition stockpiles in order to mitigate the risk of arms diversion towards the illicit market. The content of the workshop is based on the International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS) and the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines (IATGs).
Finally, UNLIREC, along with the Mexican authorities, held a round-table discussion on non-lethal weapons as a means of facilitating a forum for government authorities to discuss their use by private security companies, as well as the respective oversight and regulatory regimes, while also considering norms and legal and technical issues.
The assistance provided is made possible through the financial support of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. By providing assistance to Latin American and Caribbean States, UNLIREC contributes to the enhancement of public security and the implementation of the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UN 2001 PoA).
For more information on UNLIREC, please visit (www.unlirec.org) or contact Ms. Amanda Cowl, Political Affairs Officer (cowl@unlirec.org)
May 16, 2018 | Uncategorized
From 16-17 May 2018, UNLIREC carried out its third sub-regional meeting for Caribbean States on forensic ballistics at its headquarters in Lima, Peru. The meeting built upon two previous regional encounters held in Trinidad and Tobago in 2016 and the Dominican Republic in 2017 where States highlighted the need for improved sharing of ballistics information at national and regional levels.
Over 35 State representatives, ballistic experts and international organizations were present, including INTERPOL and CARICOM IMPACS. The two-day meeting focused on leveraging ballistic data to combat gun crime and illicit firearms trafficking, improving coordination and ballistic information sharing among agencies as well as integrating quality controls and standard operating procedures in laboratories across the region. The event formed part of UNLIREC’s region-wide assistance package on operational forensic ballistics which is funded by the governments of Canada and the United States.
Eight Caribbean Member States, including Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago, were represented at both the operational and policy levels. Participants highlighted current practices in, inter alia, firearms tracing as well as ballistic information sharing via the use of double casts and equipment previously provided by UNLIREC during project implementation. The need to improve the communication and coordination between forensic units and criminal investigative departments was underscored as a way to ensure that the forensic data and intelligence currently being generated is effectively utilized.
Representatives spoke on the progress made by their respective States since the inception of UNLIREC´s Assistance Package as well as on the resource challenges being faced by firearms examiners and forensic personnel in terms of human resource capacity; laboratory accreditation and quality management; and technology.
UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, 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 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.
