Dhaka, Bangladesh, 24-25 August, 2015

Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), in cooperation with ChangeMaker: Society for Social and Economic Development in Dhaka, hosted a Regional Asia Parliamentary Workshop to Address the Illicit Trade in SALW and Mitigate Armed Violence, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from 24-25 August, 2015.  Members of Parliament from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal and Pakistan, as well as representatives from the Security/Defense Sector and civil society in Bangladesh actively participated in the Workshop. The UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh as well as the Deputy Director of the United Nations Regional Office for Peace and Disarmament in Asia Pacific (UNRCPD), based in Bangkok were also active participants.

It is a well established fact that the widespread misuse of small arms and light weapons has resulted in a wide range of negative human, humanitarian and socio-economic consequences including loss of life, significant injuries and also contributed to the commission of conflict-related crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and rape. Unchecked, inadequate regulation of SALW continues to pose a serious threat to peace, security, stability and sustainable development in many parts of the world, including Asia. The international community has adopted a number of Instruments to address this serious international challenge, ranging from treaties to political instruments. They include the UN Firearms Protocol, the UN Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, the International Tracing Instrument and, most recently, the Arms Trade Treaty.

The purpose of this Workshop was to raise awareness among participants on the most important aspects of these instruments as well as to provide additional information on parliamentary prerogatives available to Members of Parliament to assist in promoting compliance with these multilateral arrangements/agreements in their respective countries.

A Plan of Action was adopted at the conclusion of the Workshop to facilitate concrete follow up steps/initiatives to be taken by the participants in this Workshop. 

The Workshop was kindly supported by the Foreign Ministry of the Government of Finland.

For further information, contact Peter Barcroft, Director of  Peace & Democracy Program, PGA at peter.barcroft@pgaction.org