Recognizing that the proliferation and illicit trafficking of firearms and their ammunition is a persistent threat for the internal security, the leaders of Western Balkan countries adopted a Roadmap for a sustainable solution to arms control in the region. The Roadmap is complemented by individual Action Plans that are developed by the Governments in the Western Balkans with the SEESAC’s and UNDP support. It provides an overall platform for commonly agreed levels of performance, and outlines the commitment required at the strategic policy and operational level amongst the beneficiaries.

The Roadmap puts a special emphasis on gender dimension and gender implications of small and light weapons (SALW) misuse and aims to increase gender responsiveness of SALW control policies in the Western Balkans, particularly in the context of violence against women, domestic violence and gender-based violence.

There is a strong evidence on linkage between (SALW) presence and domestic violence [1]. Presence of firearms in domestic violence incidents affects women much more often than men. Data indicates that murder by intimate partner is the most common form of female homicide.  Moreover, it is seven times more fatal than in a criminal context. In addition to this, the misuse of SALW is not only restricted to fatal events, since it is frequently used as a tool to inflict psychological violence, emotional harm, intimidation, rape, sexual abuse, coercion and other forms of violence, which have severe consequences on victims. Most often these forms of violence primarily happen in the private, domestic sphere, and go unrecognized by competent institutions.

Prevalence of domestic violence and female homicide murders are rather alarming and indicate the necessity for policy revisions and interventions that will address the issue of firearms misuse in the context of domestic violence adequately and efficiently.

To effectively address the complexity of domestic violence UNDP works with the Ministry of Interior toward further improvement of legal and policy frameworks in order to strengthen prevention system through change of social environment and increase awareness among men and women on dangers of misuse of SALW. Within the project Reduce Risk-Increase Safety – Towards Ending SALW Misuse in the Context of Domestic Violence we seek to reduce the risks of SALW misuse and enable greater access to effective protection for survivors of violence through sustainable and integrated delivery of general and specialist services and increased confidence in security institutions.

The project is supporting the implementation of the Roadmap Goal 4: By 2024, significantly reduce the supply, demand and misuse of firearms through increased awareness, education, outreach and advocacy.

The budget of this project is 294,462 USD. It will be implemented in the period of 2019-2021.

The sensitive nature of evidence, as used in a court of law to convict a person or persons of a crime, requires strict custodial procedures to be followed in a precise and careful manner to avoid later allegations of tampering or misconduct. These custodial procedures are carefully logged, documented, and attested via signature by every identifiable person at every stage of custody, thus creating a probable chain of custody that can be traced back to the point of acquisition. It has been identified during several scoping missions that the chain of custody can be improved leading to a more efficient processing of court cases and convictions.

To increase the capacities of the Ministry of Interior in the custody chain in order to improve investigations and achieve regular convictions UNDP is implementing the project Advancing the capacities of the Ministry of Interior in the field of custody chain, crime scene investigations and the ballistic laboratory in the field of operations and investigations in trafficking of firearms and firearms criminality. The project will focus on the development of standard operating procedures, accredited procedures and methods, thus directly contributing to the sustainability of the project.

It will be implemented in the period of 2019-2021. The budget of this project is 958,284 USD.

The project Advancing the capacities of the Ministry of Interior in the field of custody chain, crime scene investigations and the ballistic laboratory in the field of operations and investigations in trafficking of firearms and firearms criminality is supporting the implementation of the specific goals of the Roadmap, namely Roadmap goal 1: to ensure by 2023 that arms control legislation is in place, fully harmonized with the EU regulatory framework and standardized across the region; Roadmap Goal 3: to significantly reduce by 2024 the illegal circulation of firearms, ammunition and explosives (AME) towards, within and beyond the Western Balkans; Roadmap goal 5: to substantially decrease by 2025 estimated number of firearms in illicit possession in the Western Balkans.

UNDP Serbia has launched both projects to support specific goals of the Roadmap in partnership with the Ministry of Interior, and with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office. 

[1] Study on Gender and SALW in SEE, conducted by SEESAC