United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa

to Review Draft Instrument on Small Arms Control, 26 to 30 April

NEW YORK, 22 April (United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs) -- The thirtieth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa will take place in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, from 26 to 30 April.

The ministerial meeting will review the provisions of a draft Legal Instrument for the Control, in Central Africa, of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Their Ammunition, and All Parts and Components Supporting Their Manufacture and Assembly.  This draft legal instrument was elaborated by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), pursuant to the “Sao Tome Initiative”, adopted by Central African States at the twenty-fifth Ministerial Meeting of the Advisory Committee in May 2007.

At a recent Security Council meeting on the topic of “Central African Region:  Impact of illicit arms trafficking on peace and security”, the Council expressed its grave concern about the illicit manufacture, transfer and circulation of small arms and light weapons and their excessive accumulation and uncontrolled spread in many regions of the world, particularly in the subregion of Central Africa.  In this regard, the Council welcomed the elaboration of a legally binding instrument on the control of those weapons.

The Advisory Committee, whose objective is to promote peace and security in Central Africa through confidence-building measures, notably in the fields of disarmament and arms control, was established by the Secretary-General on 28 May 1992, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 46/37 B of 6 December 1991.  The Committee is composed of the following 11 Member States:   Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, and Sao Tome and Principe.

Ministers and other senior officials of these 11 Member States will participate in the ministerial meeting.  A number of regional and subregional organizations, as well as United Nations Missions and Offices in the region will participate in the meeting as observers:  African Union, Economic Community of Central African States, Regional Centre on Small Arms in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States, Executive Secretariat of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, and the International Organisation of La Francophonie.

Also, the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), United Nations Mission in Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA), and the United Nations Subregional Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa.

For more information, please contact the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa, tel:  +228 253 50 00, fax:  +228 250 43 15, e‑mail:  mail@unrec.org.

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For information media • not an official record