A two-day workshop on the Arms Trade Treaty and Plan of Action for Solomon Islands is underway in Honiara this week.
This is the second workshop for Solomon Islands which is aimed at informing and strengthening key Government agencies involved in National Security services.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Police, National Security and Correctional Services (MPNSCS), Ms Karen Galokale said the Solomon Islands government is yet to ratify the Arms Trade Treaty but this should not stop the Government from looking into prospects that will make it deliver on its state responsibilities.
Galokale highlighted that some government ministries and agencies have already been delivering ministerial responsibilities in relation to national security but some ministries which were created in recent years need support and further insights in the mechanisms that have been already developed to better carry out their responsibilities.
“So this workshop is indeed an important one for us in terms of development or reform in our different ministries,” Galokale said.
The Permanent Secretary said the movement of arms whether lawfully or illegally is an important issue for the National Government and it is critical that responsible agencies must ensure that moving arms legally must be transparent, secure, and safe while illegal movement of arms must be intercepted and reduced.
National Security is an important government policy which establishes that ‘relations with international security and intelligence agencies are established and strengthened and that there is cooperation between law enforcement agencies in Solomon Islands’.
The workshop discusses the Arms Trade Treaty, some global instruments of control; the status of Solomon Islands current national systems and their potential changes for accession to the Arms Trade Treaty.
Discussions are also focused the Arms Trade Treaty requirements for transit and transshipment; Import Obligations under the Treaty; Assistance programmes to implement the Treaty and the needs of Solomon Islands to accede and implement; and the steps needed to prepare Solomon Islands to be an Arms Trade Treaty state party.
The workshop is being facilitated by international experts from the Centre for Armed Violence Reduction and attended by Under Secretaries, Directors and Senior Public Servants and Officials from the RSIPF.
–GCU
