The Centre for Armed Violence Reduction (CAVR), the Secretariat of PSAAG, is funded by the UN Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation (UNSCAR) to design and manage a two-year project focusing on the implementation of international arms control standards in the Pacific. Although by and large this region has avoided the large-scale armed violence seen elsewhere in the developing world, the wide availability of small arms and light weapons does threaten the prosperity and security of the region.

Using the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light
Weapons (UNPoA), the Centre works closely with governments and civil society throughout the
Pacific to develop a comprehensive arms control system, appropriate to the Pacific context. The
Centre develops interagency guides on the transit and transhipment of arms in the Pacific and hosts
sub-regional and national workshops. In these, CAVR assists Pacific states to incorporate the
provisions of international arms control instruments in regional frameworks and to share national
best practices. Taking a ‘whole of government’ approach, the Centre brings together disparate
national government agencies to improve information sharing and co-ordination between officials.

For more detail on this project, please visit the UNSCAR website.