For the third consecutive year, on 20-22 September 2021 UNODC organized a regional training of trainers aiming at providing practical skills to practitioners. Since 2011 the UNODC Global Firearms Programme has been working with countries in West Africa and in the Sahel to improve skills on the ground and contribute to preventing firearms trafficking. The regional training took place in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and was followed by a regional meeting on 23-24 September to exchange best practices in the conduction of operations against firearms trafficking in the region.

The initiative was supported by the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) of Cote d’Ivoire and by the G5 Sahel, and counted with over 50 participants from seven countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal). The regional training focused on practical topics that are transferable to front-line officials including: firearms identification and tracing; detection of firearms trafficking; launch of firearms investigations; intelligence analysis; inter alia.