Regional Disarmament (cont'd)
Regional Structures
The Regional Disarmament Branch (RDB) carries out the responsibilities of the Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) at the regional level and from a regional perspective.
In carrying out its regional responsibilities, the Headquarters-based Branch coordinates the work of ODA's three Regional Centres, respectively for Africa, UNREC (Lomé, Togo); Asia and the Pacific, UNRCPD (Kathmandu, Nepal); and Latin America and the Caribbean, UN-LiREC (Lima, Perú).
Regional Activities
The Regional Disarmament Branch (RDB), with other substantive branches of ODA, has actively pursued a “top to bottom” approach in organizing regional activities related to Security Council Resolution 1540(2004), to the UN Programme of Action to Prevent Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, the UN Register on Conventional Arms and Instrument for Reporting Military Expenditures, and the International Tracing Instrument.
In this regard, RDB has developed a coordinated approach for the execution of programmes on a worldwide scale, with tailored, region-specific components. For instance, in 2007-2008, RDB is organizing a series of six regional seminars to promote the universality of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). This coordinated approach enables RDB to implement its mandate evenly across different regions.
The three Regional Centres are active in assisting Member States in their respective regions with both “Top-to-bottom” and “Bottom-to-top” initiatives. They also serve as centres of disarmament expertise specialized in the policies, concerns and needs of their constituents. [See 2007 First Committee briefing]
