Held from May 23 to 25 in Cairo, in cooperation between the Arab League, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Small Arms Survey (SAS), the conference welcomed the Kingdom's offer to host one of the regional workshops to be held under the second phase of the cooperation program between the Arab League and the European Union (EU) on the fight against the illicit arms trade.
The states expressed their interest in participating in this workshop to be held in Morocco next fall, affirming their readiness to participate in the various activities planned during the 2nd phase of the program, including training sessions to strengthen the skills of Arab states in combating trafficking and illegal proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
The conference also encouraged the Arab countries to take advantage of the programs that will be implemented to build skills at the national level, and whose content will be developed according to the needs and priorities of each country.
The participants also stressed the importance of Arab participation in the 8th meeting held every two years to review the progress made in the implementation of the action plan to combat illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons, which will be held at the end of June, inviting the Arab states to present their national reports that reflect the efforts made in this field during the past years.
They also welcomed the proposal of the Arab Parliament to launch a parliamentary initiative on this issue.
As part of the strategic dialogue between the two organizations, the AL-EU had launched, Monday in Cairo, the second phase of the program of cooperation in the fight against the illicit trade and proliferation of weapons, with a budget of 6 million euros and will be implemented over a period of three years.
The conference underway in Cairo is part of the second phase of the AL-EU cooperation project under the strategic dialogue between the two organizations. It aims to exchange experiences and best practices to strengthen the capacity of AL member states in combating the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons, including their possession by terrorists and criminals.