The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) Academy brings a new approach to learning about the ATT and its implementation. It provides an in-depth and tailored learning opportunity to carefully selected participants, all of whom engage directly with the ATT in their work as government, or as part of civil society. It also provides an opportunity to explore linkages to other relevant arms, security development instruments, and enables discussion and analysis of regionally-specific issues, such as the link between wildlife crime and small arms proliferation.

The first training session of the ATT Academy took place from 20-23 June, following four days of in-depth learning about the Arms Trade Treaty. This first session focused on the first several articles of the ATT, emphasizing the Treaty’s Scope as well as Articles 6 and 7. Discussion groups, homework assignments and participatory exercises enabled participants to ask questions and relate ATT obligations to their national context. The workshop also identified links between small arms proliferation, the ATT and wildlife poaching, a serious problem in many East African nations, including Kenya. The training took place at Lake Nakuru Lodge, situated in Nakuru National Park, and participants were briefed by park rangers involved in anti-poaching activities and local peace-building projects.

While many training opportunities have emerged over the last year or two, the ATT Academy is unique in being a continuous six-month learning opportunity. This enables participants to have a thorough and technical understanding of the Treaty, and to have on-the-job support. The second in-person training is designed to specifically explore and tackle problems which participants identify, as they apply the knowledge gained to their day to day work. In this way, the ATT Academy is much more than a one-off training – it is a sustained and practical learning programme.

The ATT Academy is organized by the Control Arms Secretariat and Pace University’s International Disarmament Institute. For over a decade, Control Arms and its members have been providing support and information to States of all regions in the development and eventual adoption of the ATT, and now in its universalization and implementation. As a university, Pace offers its experience with curriculum and course design as well as a track record of published research and learning on the ATT and other arms issues. The 2016 session of the ATT Academy is supported by the UN Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation (UNSCAR).

For further details on the first workshop of the ATT Academy, click here.