Division 2 Selection of implementing agency and coordination with other relevant funding initiatives

SEESAC is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the RCC, and as such is the focal point for SALW-related activities in SEE. As the executive arm of the Regional Implementation Plan on Combating the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), SEESAC has been working since 2002 with national and international stakeholders in SEE on implementing a holistic approach to SALW control through the execution of a wide spectrum of activities including: awareness-raising and SALW collection campaigns, stockpile management, surplus reduction, and improved marking and tracing capabilities, as well as improved arms exports control. In this way, SEESAC has acquired a unique capacity and experience implementing multi-stakeholder regional interventions against the shared political and economic background of the countries in the region, ensuring national and regional ownership and the long-term sustainability of its actions and establishing itself as the primary regional authority in the SALW control field.

SEESAC has open bilateral and multilateral channels of communication with all relevant actors and organisations. SEESAC is also the Secretariat of the Regional Steering Group for SALW (RSG). In addition, SEESAC is the Secretariat of the Regional Approach to Stockpile Reduction (RASR) initiative. SEESAC is regularly invited to take part in all relevant regional fora such as the EU-Western Balkans annual meetings of ministers of justice and home affairs, the NATO structural information exchange process on SALW and the South-Eastern Europe defence ministerial (‘SEDM’) process. It has a wide network of formal and informal partnerships with organisations such as RACVIAC (Regional Arms Control Verification and Implementation Assistance Centre) — Centre for Security Cooperation and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Forum for Security Cooperation (FSC). Regular coordination meetings with other UN agencies such as UNODC and UNODA take place through the UN Coordinating Action on Small Arms (CASA) as well as other mechanisms. SEESAC thus developed into a regional hub and focal point for a wide spectrum of issues related to security sector reform, with a particular focus on SALW control and stockpile management. Based in Belgrade, SEESAC currently operates throughout SEE, with activities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Kosovo^f1, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). In the past, SEESAC also operated in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania. Regional ownership is ensured through the RCC as well as through the RSG, where representatives of all states in SEE provide the strategic guidance, initiatives and requests for SEESAC activities.

SEESAC has pioneered an approach based on tackling shared problems through regional initiatives, which has wielded impressive results in SEE not only because of the crucial information-sharing and promotion of healthy regional competition which it sparks, but also because it helps achieve consistent and easily measurable results through a holistic implementation modality. Participation by SEESAC in all relevant regional processes and initiatives (such as SEDM, RASR and RACVIAC) provides timely and candid information exchange, strong situational awareness and the foresight necessary to ensure implementation not prone to overlap and in line with the current needs of the governments and the regions as well as with developing trends.

SEESAC grounds all of its activities on the collected baseline data and secures endorsement and political support from national stakeholders as a precondition for action. SEESAC implemented its previous Union-funded projects with a very high delivery rate of the envisaged activities, delivering sustainable project results by developing and fostering national ownership of its projects and activities, and promoting regional coordination, experience and the sharing of best practices, as well as regional research. Its SALW expertise and in-depth knowledge of regional affairs and relevant stakeholders makes SEESAC the most suitable implementing partner for this particular action.

The project also complements existing national-level efforts seeking maximum synergies. With specific regard to BiH, the project is complementary to two other projects in particular:

• the EXPLODE project, funded by the short-term component of the Union's Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace and implemented by the UNDP Office in Sarajevo in partnership with the OSCE Mission to BiH, to enhance the safety of the people of BiH by decreasing unstable ammunition stockpiles and enhancing storage safety;

• the SECUP BiH project for security upgrades of ammunition and weapons storage sites, which is implemented jointly by the OSCE Mission to BiH and the BiH Ministry of Defence, with EUFOR providing expert technical advice and monitoring of safety and security aspects of the project implementation.

SEESAC will work through the coordination mechanism set up by the MoD and international actors and will regularly liaise with EUFOR Althea, the OSCE Mission to BiH and the UNDP Office in Sarajevo to ensure continuous coordination and complementarity with these projects as well as with the ongoing efforts of the international community to address the issue of surplus stocks of conventional ammunition held by the BiH MoD and in view of any possible future plans for a campaign to collect illegal conventional weapons in BiH. In the previous phase, significant gains were achieved through tight cooperation and coordination with these two projects, which resulted in more efficient results.

The proposed project is part of the wider programme, and SEESAC will work in combination with the following international assistance efforts:

• in Montenegro, the MONDEM project, managed by UNDP in partnership with the OSCE, is designed to work on the reduction of counter-proliferation risks through the development of safe and secure conventional ammunition storage infrastructure and management systems, reduction of explosive risk to communities by the environmentally benign demilitarisation, destruction of toxic hazardous waste (liquid rocket propellant) and support for defence reform through the destruction of a limited quantity of heavy weapons systems designated by the Ministry of Defence of Montenegro;

• in Kosovo, the firearms and explosives risk mitigation (‘FERM’) project, (formerly KOSSAC), designed initially to reduce armed violence in Kosovo and increase community safety, aims to support the Kosovo stakeholders in controlling the widespread illegal possession and circulation of SALW and, through risk-based management and an evidence-based approach, to minimise the risks of these weapons and explosive materials;

• in Serbia, the CASM project, funded by the United States Department of State, UNDP and the OSCE, is designed to enhance security and safety of predefined conventional ammunition storage locations and the disposal of reported surplus ammunition.

In addition, the project will work to coordinate with nascent initiatives in FYROM seeking to increase stockpile management capacities of the police.

SEESAC also regularly liaises with OSCE, NATO and Norwegian People's Aid, as well as with other relevant actors, in order to secure complementarities of action, timeliness of intervention and cost-effectiveness in the use of resources.