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United Nations - Media Release
October 15, 2002

Forum Of Parliamentarians Established To
Implement Action Programme Of 2001
UN Small Arms Conference

New York (Department for Disarmament Affairs) - The first Permanent Forum of Parliamentarians committed to implementing the United Nations 2001 Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects was established on 5 October, in Madrid (the Madrid Declaration). The Forum was set up by the Parliaments of the Central American States with the support of the Parliaments of Spain and Sweden. The parliamentarians adopted a draft white book containing legal norms and instruments on firearms, ammunition and explosives. The draft is intended for use by parliamentarians as a reference tool to encourage the use of uniform terminologies in national firearms legislation.

The Forum consists of parliamentarians from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, as well as Spain and Sweden. It elected as its President for a two-year term Rogelio Baón, a Congressman in the Spanish House of Representatives and President of its Defence Committee.

The purpose of the annual Forum is to facilitate reform of firearms legislation in each country. It will also serve as a platform for parliamentarians to encourage their own governments to sign and implement international agreements.

The idea of the Forum originated in the Inter-Parliamentary Exchange Project, carried out by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament, and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, in cooperation with the Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation. The two groups were appointed to provide substantive and secretariat support to the Forum.

The Madrid Declaration calls for expanding participation in the Forum to include parliamentarians from all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in the European Union.

The Republic of Panama was chosen to host the first meeting of the Forum in 2003, which will take place in advance of the biennial meeting of States to consider national, regional and global implementation of the Programme of Action.

For further information, contact:

Daiana Cippolone
Senior Project Officer
United Nations Regional Centre for Peace
Disarmament and Development (Lima, Peru)

Tel. (in Lima) (011-51-1) 422-4682; in New York (212) 963-1684.