The UNREC Focus is the newsletter of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC). It covers news, projects, events, and publications related to UNREC’s activities.

UNREC Focus N°32, is available for download as a PDF file: UNREC Focus 32

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The United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA) and its International Tracing Instrument(ITI) remain the global framework for coordinated efforts to combat the scourge of the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.

From 18 to 29 of June 2018, States will come together in New York for the Third Review Conference (RevCon3) to review progress made in the implementation of the PoA and its ITI.

In preparation for the Conference, and in support of African States reaching the best possible conference outcome, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), and with the financial support of the European Union, is organizing a series of regional preparatory meetings for African States. 

The preparatory meetings will take place in Lomé, Togo. Participants from West and Central Africa will meet on 10-11 April 2018, followed by the meeting for East and Southern Africa on 12 -13 April 2018.

The preparatory meetings will bring together government representatives and members of national small arms commissions, as well as representatives from sub-regional and regional organizations and civil society.

Discussions will focus on the preparations for the upcoming RevCon3, and participants are expected to address a wide range of issues, including stockpile management, weapons marking, record-keeping, tracing, collection and destruction, border controls, assistance and cooperation, as well ammunition and the challenges and opportunities of new technologies that arise in the effort to counteract the illicit arms trade.

For more information, please contact: The United Nations Regional Center 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. ;  www.unrec.org, www.facebook.unrec.org, www.twitter.com/odaunrec

The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), in collaboration with the Government of Burkina Faso, through Burkina Faso’s National Commission for the Fight against the Proliferation of Small Arms (CNLPAL), organized a training-of-trainers workshop on standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) of weapons and ammunition, in Ouagadougou, from 26 to 30 March 2018.

The workshop trained officials directly involved in the management of weapons and ammunition storage sites, as well as officials from security services such as the army, the gendarmerie, the police, customs, correction and national parks

UNREC had developed the SOPs based upon the International Small Arms Control Standards and the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines. Burkina Faso experts then reviewed and validated the SOPs, and amended the manual that accompanies them at a previous workshop held in October 2017.

The workshop is part of UNREC’s PSSM Sahel project. The project aims to assist six States in the Sahel region (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Nigeria) to prevent the diversion and trafficking of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition. The project in partnership with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and Mine Action Group (MAG) is funded by the European Union.

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

In this context, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) through its regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) is organizing a workshop with the financial support of the Government of Canada on the consultative process of the high level panel of experts on the development of the treaty banning the production of fissile material for the manufacture of nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices. This workshop which aims to facilitate the participation of African states in this process will be held from 14 to 15 March 2018 at hotel February 2 in Lomé, Togo.

The workshop will facilitate dialogue at regional level among member states on implications of a future treaty and its relationship with existing global and regional instruments. It will also allow information sharing across regions on issues relevant to banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

Participants will include representatives of French-speaking countries in the Africa region from a ministry or agency involved in control of weapons of mass destruction and/or nuclear security/safety issues.

On the sidelines of the workshop, UNREC, in collaboration with the International Organization of la Francophonie (OIF), will officially present the practitioner’s handbook on disarmament in Africa, on March 15, 2018.

Developed in French for diplomats and experts from African States with the financial support of the OIF, this guide will strengthen the capacity of francophone countries to engage in issues relating to peace and security, disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation. The guide elaborates on a range of topics related to these issues, including detailed references on international, regional and sub-regional instruments.

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

The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), in collaboration with the Government of Mali, through Mali’s National Commission for the Fight against the Proliferation of Small Arms (CNLPAL), organized a training-of-trainers workshop on standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) of weapons and ammunition, in Bamako, from 22 to 26 January 2018.

The workshop trained officials directly involved in the management of weapons and ammunition storage sites, as well as officials from security services such as the army, the gendarmerie, the police, customs and institutions in charge of the environment.

UNREC had developed the SOPs based upon the International Small Arms Control Standards and the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines. Malian experts then reviewed and validated the SOPs, and amended the manual that accompanies them, at a previous workshop in September 2017.

The two workshops are part of UNREC’s PSSM Sahel project. The project aims to assist six States in the Sahel region (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Nigeria) to prevent the diversion and trafficking of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition. It is funded by the European Union.