Latin American Regional Workshop: Increasing effective implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty through practical understanding of gender-based violence and violence against children criteria
6-8 February 2024 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mexico City
The overall goal of the project was to provide accessible guidance to licensing officials and civil society on how to conduct GBV risk assessments consistent with the commitments set out in the ATT. Although originally planned as a workshop focused solely on the relationship of GBV and ATT risk assessment, Control Arms’ How to Use the Arms Trade Treaty to Address Violence Against Children: A practical guide for risk assessment was also incorporated as part of the curriculum and discussions given the incidence of firearms on violence against adolescents and the role of arms in the recruitment of children in the Latin American region.
The regional workshop included participants from six Latin American countries, which are at different stages of implementing the Treaty or seeking to accede to it. Participants included government officials from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Panama. To facilitate exchanges on best practices and effectively address challenges in identifying and documenting cases of GBV and violence against children (VAC), a diverse group of stakeholders (including civil society) was convened along with experts from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), UNICEF, and the Center of Excellence-UNODC.
Through hypothetical and interactive exercises as well as group discussions, participants applied the lessons learned during the training, shared national perspectives, best practices and challenges.
This project was made possible with financial assistance from the UN Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation (UNSCAR) and with support from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
