The opening ceremony was presided by Gilbert Ulrich TOGBONOU, Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Justice, Colonel; Didier ATCHOU, Permanent Secretary of the National Commission on Arms Control; BAGLO Ayite Marcel, representant of Ministry of Interior; and by Juan Luis Barbolla Casas, on behalf of the European Union Delegation in Benin. During the opening, UNODC highlighted the importance of conducting interinstitutional trainings with experts who are tasked to work together in the fight against illicit firearms trafficking.
The training was facilitated by UNODC and INTERPOL international experts as well as national specialists. The course enabled magistrates and investigators to better understand topics such as the international, regional and national legal frameworks on firearms; the particularities of firearms offenses; firearms identification and tracing; financial investigations into offenses related to firearms; international judicial and law enforcement cooperation as well as interagency cooperation; all in a context of respect for human rights. The workshop is part of the FTS integrated support to Benin, which has been ongoing since 2013 in close cooperation with the National Commission on Arms Control.
To benefit from its presence in the country, UNODC held various encounters with national counterparts, including on the support to ongoing firearms trafficking cases, particularly in terms of facilitating international cooperation. This initiative was made possible thanks to the support of European Union through the DISRUPT project, a joint initiative with INTERPOL aimed at preventing organized crime, including the trafficking of firearms. Project DISRUPT is part of the Global Illicit Flows Programme of the European Union.
This project is funded by the European Union
