Side event at the UN \ Building Capacity to Manage SALW in conflict-affected and fragile settings
23 October 2017, BICC together with the German Foreign Office, RECSA, and UNIDIR organized the side event at 72th Session of the UN General Assembly “Building Capacity to Manage Small Arms and Light Weapons in Conflict-affected and Fragile Settings: Key Initiatives in the Africa Region”.
PSSM Trainig, Nairobi. Photo: N. Acharya\BICC
No single state is capable of effectively countering the threat posed by high levels of weapons and ammunition proliferation. In line with this regional approach to arms control, BICC works in partnership with regional organizations mandated to work on arms control. The close cooperation with the Regional Centre on Small Arms in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States (RECSA) is of particular importance. Collaborative activities include supporting regional and national PSSM capacity-building trainings, longer-term political and technical advice at the strategic level, implementation support for community-level initiatives such as arms marking, registration and tracing efforts as well as fundraising advice and visibility at international arms control fora through the production of documentaries.
During the side event BICC presented the film screening “Keep the Safety On: A Regional Training Approach to Stockpile Security”.
Provisional Agenda of the side event
Besides the side event, BICC organized the donor meeting of the “AFRICAN UNION–GERMANY PROJECT ON ENHANCED SALW CONTROL AND PSSM IN THE GREATER SAHEL REGION” on 21 October in New York. The donor meeting was attended by donor representatives from the Group of Seven (G7) nations and other countries actively engaged in small arms control. Delegates from the African Union, ECOWAS and RECSA were also present. It served as an important opportunity to provide donors with a progress report on the development of the Plan of Action; to allow donors to view a “work-in-progress” draft of the Plan of Action and to solicit feedback, comments, and analysis from donors.
Also the next meeting of the Group of Interested States (GIS) in Practical Disarmament Measures was held on 18 October 2017 in the German House, New York, organized by GIS and the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations New York. During the meeting “CURBING ARMS FLOWS FROM A FIELD PERSPECTIVE: The Case of Africa”. Piex Joseph Ahoba, ECOWAS & Karl Wagner, BICC, presented on “Physical Security and Stockpile Management in Gambia: Findings and Recommendations from an ECOWAS Assessment Mission”.
