18-19 July, 2016
National Assembly of Cabo Verde, Praia

Supported by The UN Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation (UNSCAR), PGA organized a Lusophone States Workshop to Promote Ratification and Implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty, in close cooperation with, and kindly hosted by, the National Assembly of Cape Verde in Praia from 18-19 July, 2016.

The Workshop brought together over 40 prominent Legislators and Government officials from Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome and Principe for a two day period to discuss and review the Arms Trade Treaty, in particular its significance in the context of the Lusophone community (many members of which are more vulnerable island/multiple island states and/or possess long coastal areas that are difficult to police) with a view to identifying a range of practical steps and initiatives that could be taken to promote ratification and implementation of the ATT in their respective countries.

Also participating was the Minister of Internal Affairs of Cape Verde, the Vice-President of the National Assembly of Cabo Verde, the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Cabo Verde, the Judicial Advisor to the Secretary General of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), the UN Resident Coordinator in Cape Verde, a Representative from the  United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) and the Ambassador of Brazil to Cabo Verde.

PGA was particularly pleased to ensure the extensive participation, including in the majority of panel presentations as well as interactive dialogue sessions, of a large number of representatives from 5 different civil society groups in Cape Verde, drawn primarily from those organizations engaged in addressing/combatting gender based violence in Cabo Verde. 

 A lively and engaging panel discussion dedicated to the gender component of the ATT took place in the morning of the second day of this Workshop.

 A full List of Participants in this Workshop may be viewed by clicking on the appropriate linked document on this page. 

 During the course of the 2 Day Workshop, representatives from the following countries made several important announcements:

1. Cabo Verde announced that it will deposit its Instrument of Ratification of the ATT imminently

2. São Tomé and Príncipe announced that it has completed all domestic/national ratification processes and will deposit its Instrument of Ratification of the ATT in the near future and requested PGA's assistance in this regard

3. Brazil announced that it anticipated that ratification could happen within the next 6-9 months and invited PGA to brief his Parliamentary Committee in Brasilia before which the ATT is currently under review.

4. Angola announced that the Parliament has set up a special Commission to ensure conformity of domestic/national law with the ATT and hoped this process could be completed within the next six-nine months, encouraging PGA to brief Legislators and Government officials further in Luanda itself.

5. Guinea Bissau announced that once Parliament reconvened, it did not anticipate any particular delay with Guinea Bissau proceeding to ratification of the ATT, all other Governmental approvals having been obtained

6. Mozambique announced that the Council of Ministers of the Government approved ratification of the ATT on 29th March, 2016 and indicated that no protracted delay was anticipated with formal ratification, inviting PGA to visit Maputo to further brief engaged Legislators, Government officials and members of local civil society

7. Equatorial Guinea indicated that on account of the importance attached to the ATT by the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP) and the challenges his country faced in this area, he would encourage his Government to review moving forward with accession to the ATT in the near future.

8. Portugal announced that it would share with PGA all relevant ATT implementing legislation it has in place so that PGA could then in turn share with all Workshop participants

9. The Judicial Advisor to the Secretary General of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) undertook to continue to facilitate PGA's already growing development of contacts with senior government officials and parliamentarians in Timor Leste, and encouraged PGA to make a Field Mission visit to Timor Leste within the next 9-12 months to share the outcome document of this Workshop with the Government and National Assembly of Timor Lestes and hold a Session to raise awareness on the importance of the ATT.

 At the conclusion of the Workshop, an ambitious Plan of Action was adopted to facilitate all crucial, follow up actions by all participants under this project.

 Individual National Road Maps are also being elaborated in consultation with each country Participant. 

 A PGA Delegation was also kindly received by the Acting President of Cabo Verde (and current President of the National Assembly) S.E. Jorge Santos in his offices in the National Assembly. The Acting President and Speaker of the National Assembly of Cabo Verde undertook to seek to expedite the deposit of Instrument of Ratification of the ATT of Cabo Verde. 

For further information on this Lusophone States Workshop, please contact:

Peter Barcroft, Director of Peace & Democracy Program, PGA at peter.barcroft@pgaction.org or Thiago Carvalho, Program Associate, Peace & Democracy Program, PGA at thiago@pgaction.org