TASHKENT, Uzbekistan

On 9-10 April 2024, UNRCCA in partnership with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (RATS SCO) organized a regional workshop on fostering cooperation and information sharing on preventing and combatting the illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons and thier illicit supply to terrorists.

The meeting took place in Tashkent and gathered more than 40 participants, representing states officials from the SCO member states, other Central Asian states, regional organizations and relevant UN entities.

The agenda of the workshop covered the legislative and policy frameworks of criminal justice and law enforcement cooperation relevant to the illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons. A particular attention was paid to the implementation of the UN counter-terrorism legal framework, including the Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001) and 2370 (2017), reinforced by the 2015 Madrid Guiding Principles. Discussion also focused on the role of international and regional organizations on promoting cooperation among competent, judicial and law-enforcement authorities in the region and beyond. 

Furthermore, taking into consideration the importance of developments in Afghanistan linked to the illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons, a significant part of discussion was devoted to this challenge.

Recommendations aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of intra-regional cooperation in the field of preventing and combatting the illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons, including through institutionalizing such cooperation, were formulated at the end of the workshop.