Events

SALW control is of great importance for peace-building. For the peace and conflict research institute BICC (Bonn International Center for Conversion), SALW control is a field of activity central to research and the provision of technical and policy advice. BICC works closely with the German Federal Foreign Office, which finances most of the institute’s activities in this field.
The photography exhibition presented for the first time at Open Day of the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, focused on providing a visual insight into the complex range of activities and environments in which BICC undertakes its arms control work. The exhibition profiled national Ammunition Technical Officers and armourers from the police, military and wildlife services who have been trained as senior PSSM Instructors on a BICC, RECSA and German Federal Foreign Office supported programme. These Instructors, with extensive experience operating in complex and often conflict-affected contexts, are now capable of operationalising international standards and best practices such as the UN IATGs and MOSAIC in limited resource environments.
The images created by Nikhil Acharya, BICC Technical Advisor, also focused on the impact of arms proliferation on the daily lives of communities, including the families of security forces who work or live in the immediate vicinity of unsafe weapons and ammunition depots. Finally, the exhibition also addressed the issue of cross-border cooperation in combating organised crime, focusing on the interlinkages between the trafficking of illicit weapons and related flows including high value natural resources, wildlife and human beings.

Visitors of the exhibition "Safety First"

BICC's new photo exhibition in the "Europasaal" at the Open Day

Nikhil Acharya explaining about his work as Technical Advisor for small arms control

Milena Berks, Junior Advisor, presenting the weapons' marking machine