Division 3.1 Description

The general aim of this project is to strengthen the capacity of the governments of OAS Member States to control and reduce the illicit proliferation and trafficking of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and conventional munitions throughout Latin American and the Caribbean and to reduce the impact of SALW on vulnerable populations and communities within the region. Building on previous activities carried out by the OAS-DPS through its Program of Assistance for Control of Arms and Munitions (PACAM), project activities will focus on securing institutional stockpiles of small arms, light weapons and ammunition through physical security and stockpile management measures, preventing illicit trafficking of weapons and ammunition across international borders within the region, and identifying and tracing small arms, light weapons and ammunition that are seized by government authorities to determine their sources. During execution of the project, the OAS will train national agencies responsible for physical security and stockpile management and provide equipment and software for national inventory control.

Stockpile management efforts will also include assistance to governments in destroying confiscated, excess and unsafe SALW and munitions. The OAS will reinforce a previous project that provided equipment and training for marking and tracing SALW by assisting Member States that have not received support in this area, as well as to those Member States that were assisted and have subsequently requested additional training and maintenance support for marking equipment. Leveraging its coordination role as the Secretariat for the CIFTA, the OAS will provide advice and technical assistance to Member States in drafting legislation that promotes measure to prevent, combat, and eradicate the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in SALW and ammunition, in accordance with CIFTA provisions. In addition, a pilot prevention program will target selected communities in two or three of the countries that are most seriously impacted by armed violence related to the proliferation of SALW. The intended timeframe for project execution is 36 months.