OSCE’s work in combating illicit trafficking of weapons promoted at United Nations in New York ahead of Third UN Review Conference

In preparation for the Third UN Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), which will take place in June 2018, the OSCE’s Conflict Prevention Centre, jointly with Germany and France, organized a side event on 20 March 2018 in New York to present the recently adopted OSCE Best Practice Guide on Deactivation of SALW to the UN Member States and inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The side event was held on the margins of the Preparatory Committee of the Review Conference, which was convened from 19 to 23 March 2018 in New York.

The Best Practice Guide, adopted at the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation on 21 February, provides information and suggests approaches and procedures for the control over the permanent deactivation of SALW. It contains references to the international commitments and cites the necessary elements of national legislation, setting out the norms and principles of control over SALW deactivation. It also considers effective measures for enforcement. .

“By promoting common norms, principles and tools for its participating States on SALW issues, the OSCE encourages a shared understanding of the key principles to counter the spread and accumulation of illicit SALW,” said Ambassador Jean-Claude Brunet of France and President-designate for the Third UN Review Conference.

Sintija Oškalne, Officer for Confidence and Security Building Measures at the OSCE’s Conflict Prevention Centre, said that the Guide will become an integral part of capacity-building efforts and assistance projects that promote the application of deactivation standards in the OSCE area and beyond.

During the side event, experts shared their insights and highlighted the threat posed by the illicit conversion, transformation or reactivation of weapons.

“Recent trends in new technologies and accessibility of weapons, as well as simple ways of transforming and converting the weapons put us in the situation where every effort on every level in preventing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons is of vital importance in order to counter terrorism and organized crime,” said Adrian Whiting, SALW expert.

During the debate at the Preparatory Committee of the Review Conference, the OSCE’s Conflict Prevention Centre emphasized the importance of the regional efforts in reducing illicit arms flows by establishing and advancing effective assistance mechanisms and promoting common standards in area of SALW controls.

The OSCE`s achievements in the area of SALW controls were presented according to four areas: the normative aspects; the implementation of assistance projects that provide for the safe and secure storage of SALW and conventional ammunition; promoting women’s participation in policy-making, planning and implementation processes through the training programme for women on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation in the OSCE area; and information exchanges on SALW.