Disarmament in Review
The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, in cooperation with the Government of the Solomon Islands and the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004), facilitated a national round-table meeting on the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) in Honiara, Solomon Islands, on 29-30 October 2019. This national round-table meeting was supported by voluntary contributions from the Government of Japan to the United Nations Trust Fund for Global and Regional Disarmament Activities.
The main objective of the workshop was to review the implementation status of Solomon Islands of the key obligations under resolution 1540 (2004), enhance understanding on the importance of the resolution and raise awareness of key line-ministries of the Government. Another key objective of the workshop is to facilitate the drafting of Solomon Islands’ first national report to the 1540 Committee, in accordance to the resolution’s requirement that all Member States submit a national implementation report. Upon Solomon Island’s submission, there will remain nine countries that have yet to submit a national implementation report on the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004).
Different ministries of the Government of Solomon Islands, including Ministries of Foreign Affairs and External Trade; Justice and Legal Affairs; Police, National Security and Correctional Services; Commerce, Industries, Labour and Immigration and the Royal Solomon Islands Police force participated in the meeting and provided key inputs to the report drafting process.
The 1540 Committee’s Group of Experts provided technical assistance throughout the meeting, providing advice to the national authorities on key aspects of the resolution. In particular, the experts introduced the 1540 Committee’s national matrix – a monitoring tool developed by the 1540 Committee, and compared notes with the national authorities on Solomon Islands’ national implementation status.
As a result of the workshop, a draft national report has been agreed among participants. The draft will be reviewed and authorized, before being submitted to the 1540 Committee.
UNODA, in cooperation with the 1540 Committee, will continue to facilitate assistance to Member States in drafting their first national reports. For more information, please contact Mr. Aaron Junhoung Yoo (yoo2@un.org).
