DPKO & ODA to offer course on weapons and ammunition management

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) are furthering their cooperation to improve weapons and ammunition management in the context of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes.

Based on their jointly developed handbook, they are developing a training course for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) practitioners on weapons and ammunition management based on the highest existing international standards and guidelines, namely the International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS) and the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines.

From 5 to 9 February 2018, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) – one of three regional centres of ODA – convened a workshop in Lomé, Togo, to develop the training content and structure.

During the workshop, participants from UNREC, DPKO and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) identified the different modules of the training, chose the appropriate methodologies and considered monitoring and evaluation approaches.
The workshop participants visited the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana, and the Centre de perfectionnement aux actions post-conflictuelles de déminage et de depollution in Ouidah, Benin, to identify potential trainers and venues for some of the practical modules of the course. They also went the National Commission for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Togo.

At the end of the workshop, the participants validated the finalized training programme and developed a road map for its implementation. The future training course, which will be piloted in Lomé at UNREC for five days in May - June 2018, will also serve as a basis for separate new training modules on disarmament/small arms and light weapons (SALW) to be integrated into existing courses delivered by the Integrated DDR Training Group.

The handbook and training are part of the ongoing DPKO and ODA project on “effective weapons and ammunition management in a changing DDR context”. It aims to strengthen this element of the work of United Nations DDR practitioners in the field, both in traditional DDR and in community violence reduction contexts.Both departments look forward to continuing their partnership and to welcoming practitioners to Lomé for the course later this year.

 Photos from the Event: www.flickr.com/photos/unrec/albums/72157694157324765