MINSK, 16 March (BelTA) - Armed conflicts in the world persist because of the easy access to weapons, Marina Lenchevskaya, a member of the Standing Committee on National Security of the House of Representatives, told the media as she took part in the seminar of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly "Connecting the dots: Improving the effectiveness of the UN Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons (PoA) and combating it," BelTA has learned.
"We are living in difficult times with armed conflicts, terrorist acts, organized crime raging in the world. Look how difficult 2020 was. Despite the coronavirus, pandemic, and isolation, demonstrations and protests broke out all over Europe. Unfortunately, our country has not avoided this as well," Marina Lenchevskaya said.
Armed conflicts and violence, regardless of their scale, persist in part because of the easy access to small arms and light weapons. “It is therefore very important to ensure that the control over this illicit trade be effective. This is exactly what today's event was dedicated to," the MP said. “Women stand for peace, security and safety. It is women and children in armed conflicts who suffer the most. As women parliamentarians, we are ready to ensure that women participate more actively in decision-making within national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms to prevent, regulate and resolve such conflicts."
Marina Lenchevskaya stressed that very serious work is undertaken in Belarus in this direction. "We are implementing a international technical assistance project to strengthen the capacity of the State Border Committee in fighting illicit trafficking of weapons and ammunition. The project is being successfully implemented in cooperation with UNDP. This correlates with the Sustainable Development Goals aimed at building a peace-loving and open society," she added.
The MP noted that Belarusians must be aware illegal possession of weapons and ammunition entails criminal responsibility. "About a thousand unregistered weapons are seized in Belarus every year. In 2019 alone, more than 600 people were prosecuted for arms trafficking,” Marina Lenchevskaya said. "But if a citizen voluntarily comes to an internal affairs body and surrenders such weapons, he will be released from criminal responsibility.”
