On 26 March 2025, representatives from ten Caribbean States participated in the regional webinar ‘Synergizing Data Collection Efforts: Navigating UNLIREC’s Guidance Document’, hosted by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC).
The regional webinar marked the launch of UNLIREC´s Guidance Document on Reporting under the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap in the Context of Existing Reporting Obligations. The session aimed to enhance the participants’ ability to effectively use the newly launched document to strengthen reporting efforts under the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap, a critical tool in combating illicit firearms and ammunition trafficking in the region.
The Guidance Document is designed to reduce duplication of efforts and improve the efficiency of data collection and reporting. It identifies synergies between the reporting mechanisms of existing international and regional firearms instruments and the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap´s Monitoring and Evaluation framework.
The webinar featured presentations by UNLIREC on the content and practical application of the document. It also included interactive segments where participants had the opportunity to ask questions, share their experiences, and exchanged insights with other States.
A total of 27 participants attended the webinar, including 18 women, representing the following ten States: The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The webinar and the Guidance Document support the implementation of Goal 1 of the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap, in particular supporting States to comply with their reporting obligations, as well as Sustainable Development Goal 16, “Peace, justice, and strong institutions.” It forms part of UNLIREC´s efforts to disseminate the findings of the Guidance Document, which was researched and drafted with the financial support of the German Federal Freing Office.