Luanda - Angola has implemented specific programs for the voluntary delivery and coercive collection of firearms in the hands of the population since peace was achieved in 2002, said on Thursday in Vienna, Austria, the Angolan representative to the United Nations and other international organizations, Isabel Godinho.
Speaking at the 11th Session of the Working Group on Firearms of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), the diplomat said that as part of the commitments made, the National Authority for Arms Control and Disarmament (ANCAD) was created in 2017, a statement has said.
According to the diplomat, Angolan government is committed in shaping its legislation in this area and, as a result, the Angolan Penal Code approved in 2020, already includes sanctions for illicit conduct involving the manufacture, trafficking, possession and alteration of arms and ammunition.
The two-day meeting included technical talks by international bodies linked to the fight against organized crime, such as Interpol and the Council of Europe's Task Force on Firearms.
It aimed to put available a general picture of the dangers involved in the illicit manufacture and circulation of firearms, as well as recommending to member states the need to take action to combat organized crime.
Participants of the event expressed concern about the illegal proliferation of firearms as this is a transnational problem that affects all countries and agreed on the need for a global approach and joint cooperation to make the fight against this scourge more effective.
The Working Group on Firearms is a mechanism implemented by the Conferences of the Parties to the UNTOC through resolutions 5/4 of 22 October 2010 and 7/1 of 14 October 2014, which meets once a year to assess the state of implementation of the Firearms Convention and Protocol.
The UNTOC adopted by United Nations General Assembly resolution 55/25 of 15 November 2000, is currently made up of 191 member states and meets every two years.
The convention is assisted by three protocols, namely to "Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children", "Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air" and "Against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking of Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition".
VIC/MRA/AMP
