15 CARICOM States and the Dominican Republic came together in October 2020 to formally adopt the ‘Roadmap for Implementing The Caribbean Priority Actions on the Illicit Proliferation of Firearms and Ammunition across the Caribbean in a Sustainable Manner by 2030’ (Caribbean Firearms Roadmap). The vision for the Roadmap is a safer Caribbean, achieved by addressing the issue of illicit proliferation of firearms and ammunition. The Roadmap serves as a guiding document for commonly agreed levels of performance at the strategic, policy and operational levels.  

The Roadmap takes into consideration the provisions found in the UN 2001 PoA, as well as the legal obligations stemming from the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and the Firearms Protocol. Its effective implementation will also contribute to the implementation of Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goal 16, with a specific focus on Target 16.4 aimed at significantly reducing arms flow. 

The Goals of the Roadmap are:

• Goal 1: Reinforce regulatory frameworks governing firearms and ammunition
• Goal 2: Reduce the illicit flow of firearms and ammunition into, within and beyond the region
• Goal 3: Bolster law enforcement capacity to combat illicit firearms and ammunition trafficking and their illicit possession and misuse
• Goal 4: Systematically decrease the risk of diversion of firearms and ammunition from government- and non-government-owned arsenals

UNLIREC and its partner, CARICOM IMPACS, are the co-custodians of the Roadmap and are supporting its effective implementation in collaboration with other regional and international partners with the support of the donor community.

Over the past few decades, the presence and use of firearms in schools has become a problem across the region. Some of the manifestations of the phenomenon include: firearms found inside schools, students who carry firearms among their belongings, armed students who threaten their classmates and teachers, and shooting inside schools.

The implications represent a serious obstacle to the human development of boys and girls, adolescents and young people in terms of physical integrity (injuries and deaths), as well as at the educational and psychosocial levels.

Our Approach

• Contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon by deepening understanding into its nature, manifestations, causes and challenges.
• Generate knowledge to comprehensively address the presence of firearms in schools.
• Promote dialogue among national authorities, civil society organizations, education and security sectors, youth groups and other relevant actors to better respond to the challenges posed by firearms in schools.
• Support the integration of specific measures to prevent and respond to the presence and use of firearms in schools.

With the support of:

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This project seeks to promote good governance of the armed private security sector operating throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. States are encouraged to adopt internationally-accepted standards, norms, and good practices (MOSAIC, HCoC, Montreux Document) for small arms control and private security legislation and regulation, while the private security companies and industry associations targeted in this project benefit from the delivery of tools and specialized capacity-building, and advisory and technical support.

This project combines policy research and tool development at the regional level with practical advisory, technical and capacity-building support with the aim of:

• preventing small arms and ammunition belonging to private security companies (PSC) from being stolen, trafficked and/or used in crimes.
• supporting governments in their efforts to develop mechanisms for good governance over the Private Security Services (PSS).
• disseminating good practices by governments in overseeing PSCs and mechanisms of self-regulation in the same sector.
• promoting implementation of international standards through physical security and stockpile management of arms and ammunition by PSCs and through the secondary marking of PSC-held small arms.
• accompanying and verifying the destruction of small arms no longer needed by PSCs.

The Firearms Protocol obliges States to adopt measures to enable confiscation of firearms, their parts and components and ammunition that have been illicitly trafficked; and to adopt, within their domestic legal systems, measures to prevent illicitly trafficked firearms, parts and components and ammunition from falling into the hands of unauthorized persons by seizing such firearms, their parts and components and ammunition. In compliance with these provisions, UNLIREC works with law enforcement officials across the region to build their capacity to identify and interdict illicitly trafficked weapons and provide them with the appropriate tools to mitigate the diversion of these weapons through:

• Specialized training on identification of small arms, ammunition, parts and components, x-ray image interpretation and on-site simulations of interdictions using frequently employed methods of concealment

With the support of:

UNLIREC contributes to improving public policy frameworks on arms control through a series of capacity-building trainings. These in person and virtual courses strengthen a State’s response to public security challenges – mainly on preventing and combating illicit arms and ammunition trafficking – through increased knowledge, practical training, inter-institutional coordination, and the sharing of best practices. These trainings are tailor-made to each State and contribute to the country’s comprehensive and holistic national arms control strategies and programmes. 

The following courses are delivered by UNLIREC expert staff and consultants:

• Firearms and Ammunition Evidence Management Course (EMC)

• Course on Combatting Arms and Ammunition Trafficking (CAAT)