As part of the second phase of the European Union’s P2P ATT Outreach Project, Expertise France organised a regional workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on March 20 and 21 2019.

This workshop was attended by forty participants, representing the authorities of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Togo, as well as the G5 Sahel and the ECOWAS Commission.

With relevant experts from the Ministry for the Armed Forces (France), the Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes (France), and the Center for Humanitarian Demining Training (Benin), the regional workshop focused on:
-    Restating the scope, goals, main provisions and other key elements of the ATT; 
-    Providing advice and best practices on:

-    the control of transit and transhipment operations;
-    the prevention and fight against the diversion of conventional weapons (during their acquisition process and following their delivery);
-    Presenting an overview of the implementation of the ATT in each of the six countries invited (reflecting their current efforts to introduce the Treaty obligations in their respective national legislation). 

Within two days, the regional workshop aimed to raise awareness about these issues and to foster the exchange of experience and networking between the participants.