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UNREC Focus N°35" is available for download as a PDF file: UNREC Focus 35

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From 24 to 25 June 2019, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) hosted a high-level regional methodological workshop on election security in Africa at its premises in Lomé, Togo. The two-day activity was organized in cooperation with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). It brought together Top officials from the security and defense forces of nine countries (Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Togo), as well as representatives of United Nations agencies.

The opening ceremony of the event was attended by representatives of organizing entities, as well as honorary guests Mr. Damien Mama, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Togo and Police Commissioner Messan Dedji of the Togolese Ministry of Security. Diplomats from Egypt and Niger, as well as representatives of the European Union, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Hans Seidel Foundation, the University of Lomé, United Nations Development Programme and other United Nations Country Team and Agencies also attended the ceremony.

The workshop aimed to reflect upon around control and election security in a rule of law context from a human security perspective. During two days of work, the participants reviewed current dynamics regarding election security in their respective countries. In an open and dynamic setting they identified different factors that influence the maintenance of order and security during election periods and identified challenges that were later categorized into different issue areas. Several opportunities for capacity building of defense and security forces were derived from these reflections.

This workshop formed part of the launching of the project "Support for Security Sector Reform in Law Enforcement during Election Period in a Rule of Law Context" saw the participation of senior staff of the security apparatus of French and Portuguese speaking African countries. It was the first of a series and will be followed by a second which will be dedicated to English-speaking African countries covered by the project.

More photos from the Events: https://www.flickr.com/photos/unrec/albums/72157709272198986

Video : https://www.flickr.com/photos/unrec/48136670871/in/album-72157709272198986/

PRESS RELEASE

The United Nations Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) jointly organize a high-level regional methodological workshop on electoral security in Africa from 24 to 25 June 2019 at the UNREC headquarters in Lomé, Togo.

This workshop is part of the launching of the project " Support for Security Sector Reform in Law Enforcement during Election Period in a Rule of Law the Context" and will see the participation of senior staff of the security apparatus of French, Portuguese and Spanish-speaking African countries involved in the implementation of the project, namely:

During these two days of work, participants will review current dynamics in their respective countries with regards to election security and identify challenges and opportunities for capacity building of their defense and security forces.

This workshop is the first of a series and will be followed by a second which will be dedicated to African English-speaking countries covered by the project.

The project "Support for Security Sector Reform in Law Enforcement during the Election Period in a Rule of Law  Context” aims to improve election security in a rule of law context through capacity building of the public security forces in their sovereign duty of protecting people and institutions from a human security perspective.

For more information, please contact UNREC at Tel : +228 22 53 50 00.

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) through its United Nations Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) and the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), in collaboration  with the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (Foundation for Strategic Research, FRS), are organizing a table top exercise for Francophone West African States Parties to the BWC. The activity will take place at UNREC headquarters in Lomé (Togo) from 29 to 30 May 2019.

Organized around Article VII of the Convention, the workshop aims to explore the operationalization of assistance to victims in the event that a State Party is exposed to danger as a result of a violation of the Convention’s provisions. Additionally, the exercise aims to enable participants to formulate recommendations that will feed into the discussions of the Meeting of Experts on Assistance, Response and Preparedness scheduled for 6 and 7 August 2019 in Geneva.

The activity is funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and will bring together some 30 experts and official representatives from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo, as well as experts from the United Nations regional organizations and academia.

The BWC entered into force on 26 March 1975. This instrument, which to date (May 2019) has 182 States Parties, obliges them "never in any circumstances to develop, produce, stockpile or otherwise acquire or retain" biological weapons. By Article VII of the Convention, States Parties commit to provide assistance or to facilitate assistance if another State Party is exposed to danger as a result of a violation of the Convention.

The tragedy caused by the West African Ebola epidemic of 2014 and 2015 has contributed to a renewed interest in assistance, response and preparedness issues and this workshop will allow participants to assess factors that will influence the national decision-making process to trigger Article VII and the implications that such a decision might have.

For additional information, please contact: For additional information, please contact: 
United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), Tel : (+228) 22 53 50 00 E-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; Web : www.unrec.org, www.facebook.unrec.orgFondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS), 4 Bis, Rue des Pâtures, 75016 Paris – France, Tél : 01 43 13 77 77 Fax : 01 43 13 77 78, Web : frstrategie.org,

Fissile material is a key component in the manufacture of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. Therefore, a non-discriminatory, multilateral and international treaty banning the production of fissile material would represent a practical and significant contribution to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation efforts.

As part of its strategy against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the European Union and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), through the United Nations Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) is organizing a regional workshop on banning the Production of fissile material for the manufacture of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices for Eastern and Southern Africa States in Pretoria, South Africa on 22 and 23 May 2019.

The aim of the workshop is to facilitate dialogue at the regional level among Member States on the implications of a future treaty and its relationship with already existing global and regional instruments. It will also facilitate the sharing of knowledge and information within the region on issues relevant to banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive devices.

The workshop will be attended by representatives of Eastern and Southern African countries from a ministry or agency involved in the management of Weapon of mass destruction issues and / or security issues/nuclear safety.For more information, please contact: UNREC), Tel: (+228) 22 53 50 00,E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; www.unrec.org, www.facebook.unrec.org, www.tweeter.com/odaunrec

UNREC and UNDP Madagascar have joined forces, in the framework of UNREC Arms Marking Project and UNDP Security Sector Reform Project in Madagascar, to provide capacity-building to the Malagasy Defense and Security Forces (FDS) on physical security and stockpile management, weapons marking and data record keeping, held from 06 to 18 May 2019 in Vontovorona.

The workshop brought together one hundred (100) participants representing different bodies of the National Defense and Security Forces including the Armed Forces, the Police, the Gendarmerie, Customs, the Water and Forest Authorities, Penitentiary authorities and other stakeholders.

The main purpose of this workshop is to contribute to strengthening the physical security, control and management of weapons and ammunition in order to effectively combat proliferation and illicit trafficking of SALW, reduce the incidence of armed violence in Madagascar and restore trust between defense and security forces and the population.

During two weeks, participants took part in practical exercises of weapon marking, establishment and maintenance of arms register, database management and in practice of physical security and inventory of stock management.

To support this training of trainers and ensure its continuity within the various corps and detachments, UNDP has provided the Government of Madagascar with a batch of Pryor-type portable marking machines as well as computers to guarantee securing of data and rapid information processing, while UNREC has provided training experts, in collaboration with the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA) and the Togo National Commission on Small Arms (CNLPAL) and two Couth MC 2000 arms marking machines, in the framework of the Project entitled “Weapon Marking, Rehabilitation/Construction of Storage Units and Destruction of Obsolete Weapons and Ammunition” funded by Japan.

From 24 to 26 April 2019, a sub-regional technical capacity-building workshop for stakeholders involved in the implementation of the Kinshasa Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons took place in Yaoundé, Republic of Cameroon. The workshop is an integral part of the project Supporting African States towards the African Union’s vision of "Silencing the Guns in Africa by 2020: capacity building for Central African States,” jointly implemented by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

The participants of this workshop included the representatives of State Parties and Signatories to the Kinshasa Convention, international experts in the field of SALW and representatives of specialized organizations.

Having commended the administrative, regulatory, institutional and operational measures already taken by the Member States and the General Secretariat of ECCAS, the participants highlighted some difficulties in the implementation of the Kinshasa Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons and proposed the following recommendations:

For the General Secretariat of ECCAS:

1. Establish a provisional Secretariat of the Kinshasa Convention while awaiting its operationalization, in accordance with the decision taken by the first Conference of State Parties to the Convention, held from 11 to 13 June 2018 in Yaoundé in the Republic of Cameroon;
2. Create a template for national reporting on the implementation of the Kinshasa Convention;
3. Finalize and share with Member States the first draft of the sub-regional action plan on the implementation of the Kinshasa Convention ;
4. Sensitize and encourage the Signatory States of the Kinshasa Convention that have not yet done so, to ratify it as soon as possible ;

For the Signatory States and/or Parties to the Kinshasa Convention:

5. Assign staff to the Secretariat of the Kinshasa Convention;
6. Submit the 2018 national reports on the implementation of the United Nations Programme of Action to the United Nations Secretariat before December 2019;
7. Submit biannual reports on the current status of the implementation of the Kinshasa Convention to the General Assembly of the African Union, in the framework of the biannual report of the Peace and Security Council on the progress in the implementation of the African Union’s roadmap of “Silencing the Guns in Africa by the Year 2020” ;
8. Create synergies between relevant international and regional instruments to reduce duplication of effort and reporting burden ;
9. Build synergies among stakeholders involved in the implementation of the Kinshasa Convention in order to avoid duplication of effort and develop joint projects ;
10. Establish impact indicators to measure the harmful effects of Small Arms and Light Weapons (such as the number of SALW-related injuries and deaths) ;

11. Connect statistical services and civil society to the National Commissions on SALW to facilitate data collection on relevant indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals, including targets 16.1 and 16.4 on reducing rates of violence and illicit financial as well as arms flows ;
12. Establish transparency indicators to control the availability of data on arms originating from different entities ;
13. Regularly update records on the proportion of marked and registered weapons ;
14. Regularly update records on the number of weapons seized from civilians ;
15. Establish mechanisms for information sharing among different stakeholders such as the National Commission on SALW, statistical services, health care institutions and civil society organizations ;
16. Exploit the comparative advantages of civil society activities in raising awareness against armed violence ;
17. Strengthen provisions on stockpile management in order to reduce diversion of weapons ;
18. Implement the Africa Amnesty Month as recommended by the African Union Roadmap on Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa ;
19. Facilitate the field missions of national experts that are planned in each of the ECCAS Member States between May and June 2019, as part of the project to support the implementation of the Kinshasa Convention ;
20. Ensure the representation of female experts in National Commissions on SALW, in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) ;
21. Strengthen gender considerations to increase implementation results and further contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 5 on Gender Equality.

Done in Yaoundé on 26 April 2019