As part of the project 'Promoting international instruments of arms control in the Middle East and North Africa', the League of Arab States in cooperation with the Permanent Peace Movement organized the symposium “Combating Illicit trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Arab Region: Developments, Challenges and Best Practices”, on 29-30 May, 2016 in Cairo, Egypt. Among the issues discussed during the two days meeting were the ongoing preparations for the 6th Biennial Meeting of States (BMS6) on the Programme of Action (PoA), the review of progress at regional and national level made by the Arab countries in implementing the PoA, and the linkages between the UNPoA with other international instruments such as the International Tracing Instruments (ITI) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 16. Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) and weapons collections practices from various countries were also discussed. The symposium was attended by representatives from the League of Arab States but also several international and regional organizations working in the area of SALW Control including United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The symposium was held with financial support of the German Government.