27Feb2015

Regional Steering Group (RSG) for Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) held its annual meeting on 27 February 2015, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Hosted by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and co-chaired by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the meeting gathered national SALW focal points or their representatives from Albania, Bulgaria, BiH, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia who presented their 2014 results and 2015 plans, in both the regional and national context. SEESAC’s key partners and representatives of the donor community were also present at the meeting.

 

 

 

Deputy Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council Mr. Gazmend Turdiu, and Manager of the UNDP Regional Hub for Europe and the CIS in Istanbul Mr. Rastislav Vrbensky welcomed the participants and gave opening remarks. SEESAC Coordinator Dr. Ivan Zverzhanovski followed with a thorough presentation detailing SEESAC’s 2014 achievements as well as plans for 2015 activities and new initiatives.

 

Praising SEESAC’s experience in SALW control of over a decade, Mr. Gazmend Turdiu emphasized that SEESAC always supported regional initiatives, giving added value to important projects, adding that RCC will continue to politically support the work of SEESAC and all of its activities.

 

High level of participation with nine countries taking part shows how important the topic of small arms control is, Mr. Rastislav Vrbensky said in his opening remarks. With impressive results it achieved over the course of the past 13 years, Mr. Vrbensky said, SEESAC paved the way for a new area of activities. Through a newly created Center for Excellence in Security Reform (CESSR) SEESAC will be able to provide expertise to other regions such is the Middle East or Asia, through its roster of experts from SEESAC countries of the Western Balkans.

 

SEESAC Coordinator Dr Ivan Zverzhanovski gave an overview of the successes made and challenges faced by European Union Support of SEESAC Disarmament and Arms Control Activities in South East Europe (EUSAC) project and Arms Export Control Programme supported by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway, but focused his presentation on new initiatives.

 

“We are  planning on moving into citizens’ security and want to focus on victims of fire arms”, Dr Zverzhanovski explained, adding that early plans are humble as SEESAC will first collect as much available data as possible since the quality of data is scarce. Furthermore, he explained, “given the success and traction it achieved since its inception in 2013, we will aim to expand the South Eastern Europe Firearms Experts Network (SEEFEN) and work on identifying additional funds for its operations.

 

“Our work matured enough to move beyond the region”, SEESAC Coordinator highlighted as he announced new Center for Excellence in Security Sector Reform (CESSR). “Centerpiece is a roster of experts coupled with SEESAC’s experience with project implementation”, Dr Zverzhanovski said adding the Center is almost operational. “SEE Region will become exporter of security”, Dr. Zverhanovski concluded.

 

National SALW focal points and their representatives from Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia discussed their ongoing needs and future plans as well as their accomplishments and challenges during the past year.

 

SEESAC’s partners from the NATO Support Agency (NSPA) Mr. David Towndrow, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mr. Diman Dimov, Small Arms Survey Ms. Jovana Carapic and UNDP Kosovo* Mr. Alain Lapon, gave final presentations and updates on their activities.

 

RSG meetings are an essential part of the SEESAC governance structure. SEESAC receives its political and strategic guidance and key indigenous support from the RSG which is composed of representatives of the governments from the states concerned, the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), UNDP, and observers from relevant international and regional institutions and civil society. RSG meetings are vital in achieving better coordination and synergy and avoiding overlapping of activities and funds.