Disarmament in Review
5 – 6 July 2017, Nouakchott, Mauritania
The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), in cooperation with the Government of Mauritania and the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004), organized a national workshop on resolution 1540 (2004), held in Nouakchott from 5-6 July 2017. Financial support was provided by a voluntary contribution from Japan through the UN Trust Fund for Global and Reginal Disarmament Activities.
The objective was to assist Mauritania in its implementation of the resolution, including providing support to the drafting of its initial national report. It was the first such activity in Mauritania in relation to resolution 1540 (2004).
The two-day workshop brought together twenty-two participants, including representatives from the ministries of interior, trade and investment, foreign affairs, justice, health, agriculture, Mauritanian Defense Forces, Mauritanian Police Service, the Financial Intelligence Unit, customs and intelligence authorities, delegates from Mauritanian National Authority of Radiology and Nuclear Security as well as a member from Civil Society. The technical assistance rendered through the workshop supported Mauritania in drafting its initial national report on its implementation of resolution 1540. In addition, the workshop contributed to national stakeholders’ understanding of the obligations of the resolution and facilitated a needs analysis for prospective further assistance.
Mauritania has ratified, acceded or signed the international legal instruments listed in resolution 1540, in particular the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Treaty of Pelindaba creating an African Nuclear Weapons Free-Zone, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention and the Geneva Protocol of 1925.
UNREC, in cooperation with the Group of Experts of the 1540 Committee, has conducted a number of activities to support African States in their efforts to implement the resolution. These include regional workshops on reporting in English, French and Portuguese, a workshop on export control for countries of the Sahel (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger), and national activities in Gabon Malawi, Senegal, Togo and Zambia.
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) calls on States to refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery.
For additional information about the 1540 Committee, please visit http://www.un.org/sc/1540/.
