thebahamasweekly.com - OAS Secretary General on the Inter-American Day for Counteracting the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms

From:TheBahamasWeekly.com

Organization of American States (OAS)
OAS Secretary General on the Inter-American Day for Counteracting the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms
By OAS
Apr 5, 2020 - 9:27:14 AM

The OAS has been a pioneer in the issue of arms and ammunition control. In 1997, member states approved the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and other Related Materials, known as CIFTA. This was the first binding international instrument against illegal arms trafficking.

The proliferation of small arms, light weapons, and illicit ammunition contributes to high levels of violence, and threatens the security and development of our countries.

Unfortunately, some of the countries in the Hemisphere have the highest homicide rates worldwide.

A U.N. study published in 2019 with 2017 figures indicates that our region continues to report high levels of homicides: more than 173,000 a year, 37 percent of the global total, in a region that barely represents 13 percent of the world population. Firearms were involved in 54 percent of these killings.

The situation is aggravated when considering the actions of organized crime under the modality of trafficking in firearms, whose illicit profits in the millions put small arms and assault rifles in the hands of criminals and gangs. This concludes a perverse process: more weapons in criminal hands mean more deaths in our societies and at the same time more money for organized crime.

For this reason, starting a year ago, the General Secretariat has focused its operational efforts within the framework of the project "Countering the Proliferation and Illicit Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons and their Ammunition in Latin America and the Caribbean."

This initiative, financed by the European Union, focuses on the control of arms and ammunition, as it includes the strengthening of national capacities in physical security and stockpile management, marking and registration; destruction of weapons, transfer mechanisms; and legal assistance; it also contains a prevention component that seeks to reduce the local incidence of violent crime.

This Inter-American Day for Counteracting the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, we salute the commitment of the States that comply with the international instruments adopted to reduce armed violence. They have our commitment to continue working with the countries of the region to build more peaceful and sustainable societies in the Americas.