20 October 2020, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina: The UNODC Global Firearms Programme (GFP) held a meeting with the Assistant Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina to discuss the activities under the joint UNODC – UNDP project on Halting arms and lawbreaking trade (HALT). The counterparts discussed the importance of raising awareness in the private sector on prevention of arms trafficking and the organization of two workshops by the end of 2020 for the private transportation and parcel deliveries sectors to help improve their procedures, increase cost savings and reduce operational risks. This will result in more efficient, smooth and closer cooperation of the Government with the private sector.
Currently, the UNODC GFP is implementing two projects in South Eastern Europe:
HALT – aimed at enhancing the capacities of the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina to better combat illicit arms trafficking through development of standard operating procedures, provision of training, and procurement of specialized equipment for the detection of smuggled firearms; and a regional project on Criminal Justice Response against Arms Trafficking, aimed at supporting the six Western Balkan jurisdictions in strengthening their criminal justice response to firearms related criminality, particularly illicit arms trafficking.
The financial support for these projects is provided under the Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap Multi-Partner Trust Fund by Germany, UK, Netherlands, France, Sweden and Norway.