From 20 to 24 March, UNREC carried out the training workshop for National Commissions 
for the fight against the Proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the West African 
Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU/UEMOA) region in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 
organized by the Peace and Security department of WAEMU. 

From 15 to 17 March, UNREC participated at the BOS 2022 Annual Review Retreat in the host country.

UNREC took part in UN Presences in Central Africa, organized by UNOCA in Libreville, 
Gabon. In accordance with the proposed ToRs outlined prior to the mission, UNREC attended 
the 9th Meeting of United Nations Peace and Development Advisors (PDAs) and Heads of 
United Nations entities in Central Africa, from March 14th to 17th, 2023. Overall, these 
meetings provided a valuable opportunity for UNREC to emphasize the importance of arms 
control and to integrate it into national common country analysis and sustainable development 
cooperation frameworks. The discussions also highlighted possible areas of collaboration with 
PDAs, Resident Coordinators (RCs), and other UN offices. The proposed UNSCAR project 
was well-received, and participants suggested that UNREC use similar annual meetings of UN 
PDAs and Heads of UN presences in various parts of Africa to promote disarmament and arms 
control. However, the discussions also revealed a significant knowledge and skills gap among 
UNCTs regarding ways to integrate arms control into national sustainable development 
cooperation frameworks. Addressing this gap is crucial to promoting disarmament and nonproliferation efforts in Africa, and the proposed UNSCAR project has been strongly supported 
to help bridge this gap. Participants also recommended that UNREC institutionalize its 
participation in the meetings of PDAs and Heads of UN offices to promote disarmament and 
arms control, establish contacts, and explore collaboration (see further details in the mission 
report).

From 13 to 17 March, UNREC took part in the ECOWAS follow-up evaluation of the national 
baseline study for arms and ammunition management in Côte d'Ivoire, with technical support
by UNIDIR.

From 31 st January to 2 February 2023, UNREC participated remotely in the regional workshop for Sahel/Maghreb on Technical Guidelines for Member States to facilitate the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2370 (2017) on preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons, held in Madrid, Spain. UNREC intervened in the session highlighting the regional dimension of the implementation of the Security Council resolution, including outlining the general situation about the illicit proliferation of small arms and improvised explosive devices from a regional perspective, main challenges/gaps in arms control and disarmament in the Lake Chad basin region and other insecurity hotspots as well as good practice from past projects.

Find more on the UN website

Visit the UNIDIR website for relative details

From 31st January to 2 February  in Abuja, Nigeria, UNREC participated in the inaugural High Panel and then the proceeding of the World Customs Organization (WCO) Global Conference on Enabling Customs in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations. UNREC’s presentation on Arms control and customs challenges at border points in fragile and conflict-affected situations well received by both the organizers and delegates. UNREC further discussed potential areas to further cooperation with WCO on border control, including as it relates to arms control and human-centered security, at their request. UNREC also paid a courtesy visit, alongside the WCO Secretary General, the Director of the UNOCT Center on Terrorism and other VIPs, to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari who stressed the importance of border control for peace, security, social cohesion and socioeconomic development and the need for international and national stakeholders to come together to make it happen.

From 12 to 17 January 2023, in Brazzaville, Congo, UNREC took part in the 54th Meeting of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa (UNSAC). UNREC made a presentation to report its work in Central Africa. To synergize and promote collaboration, UNREC conducted side meetings with UNOWAS and UNOCA, who have agreed to include UNREC in annual meetings of Peace and Development Advisors (PDAs) that the two latter entities respectively organize. This will provide opportunities for UNREC to help mainstream arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation in the United Nations Country Team Common Country Analyses. Moreover, UNREC has conducted side meetings with Member States and secured agreement in principle to conduct the second phase of the EU POA/Gender project (in-country activities) in Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea and Congo. UNREC also updated Burundi on its request for SALIENT funding, for which the UN RC in Burundi has applied. UNREC also sensitized Member States on the Project on the universalization of the Biological Weapons Convention for the Central Africa Region and discussed with Cameroun regarding the possibility to jointly organize the regional workshop for Central Africa.