UNLIREC and CARICOM IMPACS hold Executive Seminar for the Advancement of Belize’s National Action Plan for the implementation of the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap

The Executive Seminar was carried out within the framework of the ‘Roadmap for Implementing The Caribbean Priority Actions on the Illicit Proliferation of Firearms and Ammunition across the Caribbean in a Sustainable Manner by 2030’ (Caribbean Firearms Roadmap). The Roadmap, which was officially adopted on 22 January 2021 by CARICOM’s Council of National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE), consolidates and builds upon the 2019 actions adopted by Caribbean Heads of Governments on addressing the illicit trafficking of firearms in the region.

In line with measures taken by nine other States in the region, Belize adopted the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap in May 2021 and has already initiated concrete actions contemplated in the Roadmap by taking steps to create its National Action Plan (NAP). A total of 12 representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Human Development, Families and Indigenous People´s Affairs, the Attorney General’s Ministry, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, Belize´s Police Department, the Coast Guard, and Belize Defense Force, along with members of the German Embassy, UNLIREC and CARICOM IMPACS participated in the NAP Executive Seminar.

In the Seminar, UNLIREC presented the Roadmap and participants discussed steps needed to map out Belize’s priorities, plans, and timelines for implementing the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap. The development of a NAP is key to the successful implementation of the Roadmap, which requires both the concerted efforts of national authorities and the timely, targeted, and coordinated support of regional and international partners and donors. The Roadmap has pre-defined goals, targets and actions as well as recommended performance indicators, serving as a base document for Belize in the elaboration of its National Action Plan (NAP).

UNLIREC and CARICOM IMPACS, as the main implementing partners, are lending technical assistance in elaborating the NAPs and in their successive implementation. The Executive Seminar was part of the first set of activities in the context of the aforementioned assistance. The governments of Canada, Germany, United States of America, and the United Kingdom are supporting the implementation of the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap.

UNLIREC, as the regional organ of the UN Office for Disarmament, seeks to advance the cause of practical disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its commitment to support Member States in their implementation of international disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, in particular, the 2001 UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.

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