The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, in cooperation with its Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific and the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining, is organizing two subregional training courses to engage States of Central, South and South‑East Asia on the subject of conventional ammunition management, in particular the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines and the UN Safer Guard Program. The training will be held from 11 to 16 November in Kathmandu, Nepal.

According to a press release issued by UN Information Center (UNIC), inadequately managed ammunition stockpiles pose the dual dangers of unintended explosions and diversion to illicit markets. In response to these challenges, the United Nations developed the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines in 2011, to provide practical, step‑by‑step guidance for all stakeholders wishing to improve the safety and security of ammunition storage sites. In parallel, the UN SaferGuard Program was launched as the complementary platform for managing knowledge of conventional ammunition issues within the United Nations. Activities under the UN SaferGuard Programme support realizing the “Saving lives” pillar of the Secretary‑General’s agenda for disarmament — Securing Our Common Future — specifically action 22 on securing excessive and poorly maintained stockpiles.

The subregional training aims to increase awareness of the UN Safer Guard Program — with a view to supporting national authorities in the safe and secure ammunition management. Furthermore, the training will serve as a platform to introduce the “UN SaferGuard Validation Process”, with a view to encouraging the participation of technical ammunition experts from Asia and the Pacific in future validation exercises. The UN SaferGuard Validation Process is developing an objective methodology for validating technical expertise in relation to ammunition, in accordance with the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines. The process also seeks to populate a roster of experts for use by the UN Safer Guard Quick Response Mechanism.

In support of the validation process, and to define the essential criteria for rostered ammunition experts, participants in the subregional training will engage in a survey of national ammunition management systems. The survey’s findings will support the development of standardized methodology by illustrating differences in educational and training models for managing ammunition.

The training are made possible with financial support from the Government of Sweden.