The National Agency for Controlled Materials of Argentina and the Small Arms Survey sign a Memorandum of Understanding

BERN—The National Agency for Controlled Materials (Agencia Nacional de Materiales Controlados, ANMaC) of Argentina and the Small Arms Survey signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their collaboration and partnership.

The two organisations agreed to collaborate in assessing ANMaC's institutional processes, capacities, and practices, with a view to enhancing relevant policy frameworks and technical capabilities. ANMaC and the Small Arms Survey also plan to share good practices that can lead to effective, evidence-based policymaking to prevent and reduce the risk of firearms-related gender-based violence.

Created in October 2015, ANMaC is a decentralized body within the Argentinian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. Its mission is to enforce, control, and oversee the application of National Weapons and Explosives Law, as well as to support the development and implementation of criminal and armed violence prevention policies. Amongst other obligations, ANMaC is also entrusted with the destruction, throughout the national territory, of all controlled materials, namely surplus and obsolete firearms and explosives, materiel confiscated and cleared for destruction, and materiel sourced through the national voluntary surrender of firearms programme.

The Small Arms Survey, an associated program of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, is a global centre of excellence whose mandate is to generate evidence-based, impartial, and policy-relevant knowledge on all aspects of small arms and armed violence.

Hosted by the Ambassador of Argentina to Switzerland, Gustavo Martínez Pandiani, Directors Natasa Loizou from ANMaC and Daniel de Torres from the Small Arms Survey signed the new MoU on 28 August 2023, at the Embassy of Argentina in Switzerland, based in Bern.