From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
OAS Signs Agreements on Public Security with Trinidad and Tobago
By OAS
Jul 27, 2011 - 3:16:44 PM
The
Organization of American States (OAS) today signed two cooperation
agreements with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. The first
will facilitate the formation of a National Observatory on Crime and
Violence, and the second will facilitate the implementation of the
project “Promotion of the Marking of Firearms in Latin America and
the Caribbean.”
The agreements were signed by the Minister of
National Security of Trinidad and Tobago, Brigadier (r) John Sandy,
and the OAS Secretary for Multidimensional Security, Adam Blackwell,
at a ceremony held at the headquarters of the Ministry of National
Security in Port of Spain.
“Today, the OAS and Trinidad and
Tobago are taking a fundamental step to strengthen regional
security,” said Adam Blackwell, the Secretary of Multidimensional
Security at the OAS. “Both the creation of a national observatory on
crime and violence and the project of firearms marking are part of
the roadmap laid out by our Organization to strengthen hemispheric
security for our citizens,” Ambassador Blackwell added.
In
the framework of these agreements, the OAS is committed to providing
the Government of Trinidad and Tobago with computer equipment,
software, and logistical and methodological support in order to
strengthen capacities for developing a system of statistics on
public safety. The resulting information will allow for the
development and monitoring of security policies in English-speaking
countries of the Caribbean.
The project “Promoting Firearms
Marking in Latin America and the Caribbean” falls within the
Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and
Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related
Materials (CIFTA), and seeks to increase countries’ capacities in
this matter.
The OAS aims to strengthen Member States’
national capacities to respond, in an effective and efficient
manner, to the increasing levels of crime and violence caused by
illicit trafficking in firearms. In this regard, the OAS will
cooperate with the countries of the region with the objective that,
as quickly as possible, all Member States will have established
policies and legislation to mark firearms at the time of manufacture
and / or import.
The National Observatory on Crime and
Violence will be financed with funds provided by Canada, and the
Project of the Marking of Firearms will be financed by the United
States.
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at
www.oas.org.
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