17 October 2018 - Together with the European Union and the UNODC Research and Trend Analysis Branch, the Global Firearms Programme (GFP) organized the side event entitled " Best Practices in the Collection, Analysis and Operational Use of Firearms Data to Monitor Illicit Arms Flows and Achieve SDG Target 16.4 - UNODC's Firearms Champion Country Initiative". The event provided a platform to provide an update on the implementation of the ongoing EU-UNODC project on firearms data and to introduce the GFP's new Firearms Champion Country Initiative.
Opening the event, Mr. Fabio Marini, Senior Expert in Firearms, Directorate General Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission, noted that significant gaps in firearms data collection among EU Member States showed the need for the EU to promote and support research on firearms trafficking within the EU and at global level and underlined that standardised data on firearms seizures is key to enhancing the understanding on firearms trafficking and to develop evidence-based responses at policy and operational levels.
Ms. Simonetta Grassi, Head of the GFP, provided a status update on the implementation of the EU-UNODC project on firearms data and invited all Member States to join the Firearms Champion Country Initiative - an initiative which seeks to identify and celebrate good practices and efforts undertaken by Member States to detect, prevent and counter illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition.
Practical examples on good practices in firearms data collection and analysis were presented by representatives of the Governments of Portugal and Côte d'Ivoire. Mr. Pedro Nuno R.M. Coelho de Moura, Director, Department of Arms and Explosives, Polícia de Segurança Pública, Portugal, explained the complex national system on firearms registration and shared that a national protocol helped to centralise and open the recordkeeping system for civilian police institutions. Mr. Anzian Kouadja, Permanent Secretary, National Commission on the Fight against the Illicit Proliferation and Circulation of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Côte d'Ivoire, noted that while the process of filling in the Illicit Arms Flows Questionnaire brought about acknowledgement of significant challenges and gaps in the national firearms data system, the exercise also helped the relevant institutions to realize where more efforts were needed.
Ms. Angela Me, Chief of the UNODC Research and Trend Analysis Branch, who was the last speaker during the event, highlighted the long-term commitment and ethical approach that is required to produce good and reliable data and analysis on firearms trafficking and spoke of the importance of making firearms data a common good of the international community.
Please follow the below links for more information on the event:
- Flyer
- Brochure on GFPs approach to SDG target indicator 16.4.2
- Presentation by the Global Firearms Programme on "UNODC's Firearms Champion Country Initiative"