From:TheBahamasWeekly.com

Organization of American States (OAS)
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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