SEESAC

Effective weapons and ammunition management helps lower the risk of proliferation, strengthens control over stockpiles and contributes to a 🌎

This week in , UNDP SEESAC, with the support of 🇪🇺, brought together institutions and technical experts from across Southeast Europe to strengthen regional cooperation on weapons and ammunition management.

The workshop focused on practical priorities that matter for security outcomes: safer storage facilities, stronger inventory control and record-keeping, improved ammunition surveillance, surplus disposal, and keeping regional practice aligned with international standards and emerging technological developments.

In addition, participants reviewed lessons from the first phase of the Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap, discussed regional armed violence trends with focus on lost and stolen weapons, and shared views on how broader armament trends are shaping future responses.

A visit to the TROM Doboj ammunition testing facility, organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, added an important operational perspective by showcasing ammunition maintenance, destruction, and laboratory analysis capacities in practice.

The workshop in Sarajevo reinforced that effective stockpile management is a key contributor to preventing diversion, reducing risk, and strengthening security cooperation across the region.

Fi****ms Focal Points play a critical role in disrupting illicit arms flows. Strengthening their analytical capabilities leads to more coordinated investigations, faster intelligence-sharing, and more effective cross-border responses.

In March, SEESAC delivered a two-day advanced analytical training for Fi****ms Focal Points from the Western Balkans, Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine.

Participants enhanced their ability to turn data into actionable intelligence that directly supports fi****ms trafficking investigations, including:

👉 identifying crime patterns and trends
👉 mapping criminal networks
👉 reconstructing key events

The workshop translated into strong practical results, with participants successfully applying new analytical approaches through scenario-based exercises.

Supported by 🇪🇺

SEESAC's Brief Guide to Gender Analysis – a practical resource developed to strengthen the analytical and operational capacities of Fi****ms Focal Points in the Western Balkans - is out 👇

Fi****ms Focal Points (FFPs) play a key role in providing intelligence to law enforcement to address fi****ms-related criminality.

This Guide supports FFPs in systematically integrating a gender perspective into their activities through consistent gender-sensitive data collection and the application of gender analysis, ultimately enhancing the intelligence picture and prevention of fi****ms criminality.

Developed as part of technical assistance to FFPs in the region, the Guide offers practical guidance to FFPs on collecting gender-sensitive data and applying gender analysis. By building on standard operating procedures and leveraging SEESAC’s field-tested tools and recent trainings, it provides a clear pathway for the integration of gender perspective into routine operations and analytical outputs.

At the centre of the Guide is a practical, step-by-step methodology for gender analysis comprised of six interconnected steps:

👉 collecting data to gain insight into the position of women and men;
👉 identifying gender specific patterns;
👉 examining the factors behind the identified patterns;
👉 proposing measures;
👉 consolidating a gender-responsive intelligence picture;
👉 and monitoring trends and evaluating responses.

By implementing these steps, the FFP's strengthen their key outputs by providing insights that support investigators and inform strategic planning.

The Guide is available in English, Albanian, BCMS, and Macedonian.

To learn more about this 🇪🇺 supported publication, visit: https://bit.ly/4dFK7uY

How Can Armed Violence Be Prevented? SEESAC’s Latest Report Shares Practical Solutions 🚨

Armed violence continues to inflict significant physical, social, and economic harm across the Western Balkans. SEESAC’s Armed Violence Monitoring Platform documents hundreds of deaths and injuries each year, with survivors facing lasting health and emotional consequences. Firearm misuse in domestic violence remains a leading cause of firearm-related deaths.

The impact extends beyond individual victims. Armed violence deepens insecurity, trauma, and social disruption. The economic burden is also high, impacting healthcare, law enforcement, productivity, and legal systems.

To help address this challenge, SEESAC has published a new report: Preventing Armed Violence: An Overview of Approaches and Practical Experiences.

Framing armed violence as both a human rights issue and a public safety concern, the report examines its various manifestations and outlines a holistic approach to prevention strategies which include:

👉 criminal-legal system interventions,

👉 community-based solutions, including risk education, hospital-based interventions, and street outreach, and

👉 hybrid approaches such as focused deterrence and situational crime prevention.

Explore the full report: https://bit.ly/4dwFljv

Supported by 🇪🇺

SEESAC is 🚀

Looking to build your career in project and administrative support while contributing to a meaningful initiative? We are looking for a Project Clerk to join our team in 📍

If you have strong organizational skills, attention to detail, confidence using MS Office and administrative systems, and a proactive, team-oriented mindset, we encourage you to apply 👇

⏰ Deadline: 21 April 2026
🌍 Languages: Fluency in Serbian and English
👉 Apply here: https://bit.ly/4mqoKAa

📣 Know someone who’d be a great fit? Tag them or share this post!

AVMP data for 2025 shows that handguns remain the most commonly used fi****ms in , with 73% of reported weapons in illegal possession.

Learn more in AVMP's yearly infographic in the link in bio 🔗

Supported by 🇪🇺