# Council Decision 2014/912/CFSP of 15 December 2014 in support of physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) activities to reduce the risk of illicit trade in small arms and light weapons (SALW) and their ammunition in the Sahel region, Division 1.2: Rationale

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

Within its mandate under UN General Assembly Resolution 40/151 G, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), as the African regional presence of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), is in a unique position to assist and strengthen the capacity and capability of Sahel States in effectively utilising these standards and best practices, and thereby controlling their SALW and ammunition stockpiles to prevent the destabilising effect of SALW accumulation and their illicit trade in the subregion and further beyond.
UNREC proposes to implement the project in cooperation with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and the non-governmental organisation Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and in coordination with relevant regional and subregional organisations, such as ECOWAS and ECCAS, as well as non-governmental organisations. UNMAS is conducting activities in support of United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), as one of its integrated components within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 2100(2013) and with the UN Country Team in Mali. MAG is currently undertaking a regional project addressing conventional weapons and ammunition security and management in target countries within the Sahel-Maghreb region. Findings from these activities will be used to inform planning and implementation of the project. Synergies will offer the possibility of greater overall impact. The project will further benefit from UNODA in-house expertise at UN headquarters and in the region, as well as from further expertise available in the UN System.
These activities will build upon, complement, and capitalise on synergies with projects which UNREC and other bilateral partners, UN agencies, subregional organisations and non-governmental organisations are already implementing in the region, including: a project to support the re-operationalisation of the Mali National Commission on SALW and to develop a National Action Plan on SALW; Decision 2011/428/CFSP pursuant to which, inter alia, marking machines are provided to Burkina Faso and Niger; the ongoing project ‘The Fight Against the Illicit Accumulation and Trafficking of Firearms in Africa’, which is funded by the European Commission under the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace, and during the project's first phase (2010-2013), inter alia, marking activities were undertaken, and electronic marking machines were provided coupled with the installation of customised software for recordkeeping in Eastern African countries, while the ongoing phase (2013-2016) provides for similar activities in other countries (indicatively: Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda); a trans-regional project implemented by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in inter alia West Africa (i.e. Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Togo), also financed by the Union's Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace, which aims to promote the ratification and implementation of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Firearm Protocol thereto, primarily through support for legislative review and reform; arms management related training activities undertaken by the EU Common Security and Defence Policy mission EUCAP Sahel Niger; as well as a NATO project in Mauritania implemented by the NATO Support Agency (NSPA).
Moreover, the PSSM activities under this project should take into account and support, where pertinent, broader security programmes implemented in the beneficiary countries, such as Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) as well as Security Sector Reform (SSR) processes. The review of legislation and administrative frameworks of PSSM and the further recommendations for them to meet international standards on arms control, as well as the development of national standard operating procedures on PSSM, will contribute to SSR efforts in each country and in the subregion. Activities under the project can also support, where appropriate, DDR efforts — specifically those linked to practical disarmament — as the development of national SOPs on arms control can be integrated into DDR processes, for example by setting norms for the marking and registration or destruction of recovered weapons. Existing practices, promoted also through other relevant EU-funded projects, should be used to ensure harmonised processes.
With the implementation of international best practice standards in arms control, this project will assist States in developing independent civilian oversight of national PSSM activities. The need for civilian oversight will be streamlined in the different activities of the project, particularly in consultations and workshops.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2014/912/annex/division/1/division/1.2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2014-912/annex/division-1/division-1.2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.