Division Description

This part of the project supports the strengthening of the effective rule of law, limiting, registering and measuring the quantities of and demand for SALW. The project is designed in line with and will therefore enhance the implementation of the UN Programme of Action, the International Tracing Instrument, the UN Firearms Protocol and Council Directive 91/477/EEC as well as Common Position 2008/944/CFSP by improving the capacity of South East European states for marking, tracing and record-keeping of weapons, focusing in particular on the capabilities of national authorities to keep records of legal weapons in the possession of civilians by supporting the enhancement and digitalisation of such systems. At the same time, capacity will be improved for the marking, tracing and ballistic analysis of weapons.

The project will pay attention to ensuring coherence and complementarity of UN and EU activities, under national, regional and thematic programmes and all activities under this objective will pursue a high level of synergy and complementarity with Interpol (iARMS) and EUROPOL initiatives in this area.

The project will support the enhancement of capabilities for SALW marking, tracing and record-keeping in South East Europe through a mixture of trainings and technical level assistance, re-enforced by normative and institutional analysis:

• Albania: it will provide support to the Albanian State Police in developing and implementing a central electronic weapons register by designing the system, procuring and installing the necessary hardware as well as providing training for personnel.

• Bosnia and Herzegovina: it will support the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in continuing its efforts and results in enforcing SALW non-proliferation through the improvement of technical capabilities in investigating and enforcing SALW control.

• FYROM: it will work with the national authorities to further enhance the existing weapons registration system by upgrading the software to include weapons owned by security forces and by further training personnel to keep records of firearms in line with legislation.

• Kosovo^f1: it will work with the Kosovo Police Service to develop standard operating procedures and provide training on their implementation. At the same time it will seek to map the structure of the illicit trade in SALW by working with the relevant authorities to identify key risk areas.

• Serbia: it will support the enhancement of technical capabilities, of the Ministry of Interior ballistics laboratory, to mark and trace weapons and ammunition through procurement of specialized equipment and provision of training.

At regional level:

• The project will support the establishment of a South East Europe regional firearms experts' network and organise up to six regional workshops in order to increase knowledge sharing;

• The Network will be supported by an online platform to facilitate knowledge and information exchange;

• SEESAC will liaise closely with Conflict Armament Research (CAR) to facilitate information sharing on illicit weapons between SEESAC, the Regional Firearms Expert's Network and CAR's iTrace project.

• A feasibility study mapping the legal and technical possibilities for closer and more institutionalised tracing and ballistics data sharing will be conducted.