GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC–The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) will participate in the Fourth Review Conference of the United Nations (UN) Programme of Action on Small Arms (RevCon4), scheduled to take place at the UN Headquarters in New York, from 17 – 28 June 2024.
Every six years, a Review Conference (RevCon) is held at UN Headquarters to review progress made in implementing the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA) and the International Tracing Instrument (ITI).
The third RevCon, which took place in 2018, was a vital opportunity for countries in all regions to strengthen and improve their efforts to reduce the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons.
Apart from participating in the Conference, the CARICOM IMPACS team led by Callixtus Joseph, Assistant Director – Policy, Strategy and Innovation (Ag.), will also attend a series of side events, including: “A Public Health Crisis: Small Arms Trafficking and Violence in the Caribbean” which will be held on June 18.
The discussion will focus on the regional characteristics of small arms proliferation and its impact on public health and sustainable development, the role the public health sector can play in preventing firearms-related violence, and the possible synergies between the public health approach to violence prevention and more security-focused initiatives.
Joseph will be a panelist and deliver remarks on synergies between law enforcement and public health interventions.
Referring to the importance of having CARICOM IMPACS representation at the Conference, Joseph remarked: “RevCon4 presents a significant opportunity for the region to shape global policies, ensuring that they align with the interests of CARICOM States in reducing the proliferation and usage of illicit weapons. Curbing the illegal trade of firearms and their ammunition is crucial.
The ease of access to illicit guns is a primary driver of violence, which poses a significant threat to ordinary citizens’ lives and livelihoods in the Caribbean.
The CARICOM team will also host its own side event, “Advancing Innovative Regional Mechanisms to Reduce Gun Crimes: CARICOM Crime Gun Intelligence Unit,” on June 26. The focus of this event will be regional approaches to gun crime intelligence and key efforts to understand the trafficking dynamics. This session will also analyze the role of regional organizations, such as CARICOM IMPACS, in implementing the UN PoA.
According to the Weapons Compass: The Caribbean Firearms Study 2023: “The Caribbean Region suffers from some of the world’s highest rates of violent deaths, with firearms used in the majority of these crimes. Although most homicide victims are men, the Caribbean as a region also faces one of the world’s highest rates of violent deaths among women.”
The study also reported that small arms and light weapons (SALW) are used in more than half of all homicides on average in the Caribbean Region; in some countries, this proportion reaches 90 percent.
The CARICOM IMPACS was established by the 27th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM in July 2006, in Bird Rock, St. Kitts, and Nevis, as the implementation arm of a new regional architecture to manage CARICOM’s action agenda on crime and security.
At this meeting, the Heads of Government signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement establishing CARICOM IMPACS as a legal entity, with direct responsibility for research, monitoring and evaluation, analysis, and the preparation of background documents and reports, as well as project development and implementation of the regional crime and security agenda.
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