To support African States in the preparation for the Third Review Conference of the UN Program of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), and with the financial support of the European Union, organized regional preparatory meetings for African States. Taking place in Lomé, Togo, participants from West and Central Africa met from 10-11 April, while East and Southern African states met from 12-13 April. Discussions circled around issues including stockpile management, weapons marking, record-keeping, tracing, collection and destruction, border controls, assistance and cooperation, as well as ammunition and challenges from new technologies. The issue of preventing small arms and light weapon diversion, as well as exploring possible synergies between the PoA and the ATT, was also stressed in the discussions. These meetings brought together some twenty (20) government representatives, members of National Commissions from forty (40) Western, Central, Eastern and Southern African countries, delegates, representatives of regional, sub-regional and regional organizations, civil society organizations and United Nations experts. The work focused not only on the UN Program of Action to prevent, eliminate and combat the illicit trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in all its aspects (PoA) but also the International Tracing Instrument (ITI).