31 August 2016
UNODC's Global Firearms Programme (GFP) organized a training workshop for Gulf Countries on the international legal framework and the United Nations Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition (Firearms Protocol), in Abu Dhabi from 29 to 31 August 2016.
The training workshop was aimed at providing practitioners with an introduction to the Firearms Protocol and other related international instruments and its practical implementation measures. It was part of the GPF's strategy to provide sustainable technical assistance for enhancing national capacity to counter the illicit trafficking in firearms and support law enforcement agencies in their fight against transnational organized crime.
The training also addressed the issue of firearms data collection and analysis and presented the methodology and findings of the UNODC Firearms Study of 2015 and its upcoming initiatives.
Participants to the workshop expressed interest to establish closer links to the GFP, and to jointly explore the need and utility of creating a database on seized firearms, as well as to engage in training of trainers activities and to set up a regional group of experts on investigations related to firearms (including forensic evidence) in order to have a regional system approach.
The workshop was funded together with the Gulf Cooperation Council.
