Online regional consultations
Conventional weapons manufacturing technologies, material and ‘know-how’ are increasingly available. While developments in manufacturing apply differently to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS), their improvised assembly and deployment present underexplored similarities and linkages. Given the ‘do-it-yourself’ nature of production and continuously improving durability and dependability, improvised SALW, IEDs and UAS are permeating conflict and non-conflict settings. Their growing appeal to a wide range of non-state actors, poses serious challenges for arms control and security.
To raise awareness and enhance efforts to better understand and counter the threat posed by improvised conventional weapons, UNIDIR’s Conventional Arms and Ammunition Programme (CAAP) is launching an initiative on “Breaking the supply chain: Countering the illicit production of improvised SALW, IEDs and UAS”. As part of this initiative, CAAP is organizing a series of online regional expert consultations.
These will bring together technical audiences to discuss key developments and trends in the acquisition of technologies and ‘know-how’ that are used to assemble and deploy improvised conventional weapons. The online consultations will be an opportunity for participants to share operationally-useful information and to identify good practices, lessons learned and potential challenges in countering the uncontrolled global dispersion of improvised SALW, IEDs and UAS. These consultations will inform next steps within UNIDIR’s initiative, including the planning of a policy-relevant international conference to be held in Geneva, in December 2025.
When and where
The consultations will be structured following the United Nations Regional groups of Member States and will be held online, on Zoom. Discussions will be conducted under the Chatham House Rule. The consultations are scheduled to take place on the following dates and times:
- Western European and other States – 15 May 2025, 15:00 – 16:30 (CET)
- Latin American and Caribbean States – 12 June 2025, 15:00 – 16:30 (CET)
- Eastern European States – 8 July 2025, 14:00 – 15:30 (CET)
- Asia-Pacific States – 16 September 2025, 10:00 – 11:30 (CET)
- African States – 2 October 2025, 15:00 – 16:30 (CET)
Participation
UNIDIR welcomes the participation of law enforcement, national authorities, civil society experts and international and regional representatives working in the domain of improvised conventional weapons, border control and criminal intelligence. Please note that participation is upon invitation only. However, should you be interested in joining one or more consultations, you are welcome to contact Matilde Vecchioni at matilde.vecchioni@un.org or Theo Bajon at theo.bajon@un.org.