Franco-German roadmap for comprehensive control of small arms and light weapons discussed in side event at OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan

The OSCE’s role as a key partner in implementing a new roadmap for controlling small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the Western Balkans was the topic of a side event held on 7 December 2018 during the OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan, Italy.

The roadmap is the core element of a Franco-German initiative for integrated and coordinated action to achieve a sustainable solution to the possession, misuse and trafficking of SALW and their ammunition, which continue to constitute a threat to the citizens of the Western Balkan region.

Building on years of work by national institutions and international organizations including the OSCE, the roadmap sets out a reliable, transparent and trackable process that aims to achieve the control of SALW in the region by 2024.

With seven goals in the areas of legislation, policies, export control, education, collection, physical destruction and stockpile management, 14 key performance indicators, a scoreboard for tracking progress and a yearly review mechanism, the roadmap charts a course that goes beyond the deactivation of SALW to ensure their comprehensive and sustainable control.

High-level participants from Germany, France, Montenegro and Albania as well as the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre and the OSCE Transnational Threats Department stressed the holistic, output-oriented nature of the roadmap. They highlighted its encouragement of both national and regional ownership and commended the co-operative, transparent approach to working with partners such as the OSCE, with due respect to their mandates. They also noted the importance of mainstreaming gender aspects into the work of controlling SALW, as the issue concerns women and men equally.

Marcus Bleinroth, Director of Division, Conventional Disarmament, Preventive Arms Control, German Federal Foreign Office, explained that while in the past the main focus in controlling SALW had been on physical security and stockpile management, this initiative takes a comprehensive approach, addressing the need to strengthen border control to prevent the illegal proliferation of SALW and also the need to enhance the criminal justice response to their illicit trafficking and possession.

Ambassador Jean-Claude Brunet, President of the Third Review Conference of the UN Programme of Action on SALW, drew attention to upcoming activities planned under the Franco-German Initiative, including a the High Level Meeting on the Franco-German Initiative on Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Western Balkans to be held in Paris on 11 December 2018. He stressed the importance of the OSCE’s involvement in the implementation of the roadmap with its current and future projects.

The side event was organized by Germany, France and the OSCE Conflict Prevent Centre’s Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) Support Section.

On the basis of the OSCE Document on SALW and other OSCE documents, the OSCE provides assistance upon request to participating States with the collection and destruction of SALW and conventional ammunition, helps to improve legislation to effectively control SALW and assists in improving stockpile management. The OSCE also has a funding mechanism, the Comprehensive SALW and Stockpiles of Conventional Ammunition (SCA) Repository Programme, which serves as a funding stream for supporting relevant activities, including in partnership with the Franco-German Initiative.