Training, education, and capacity building are other important vehicles for fostering a regional approach to stockpile reduction. Not only will such efforts enhance domestic and regional technical expertise, promote greater understanding and support from policy-makers, and increase access to national and regional resources, but joint training will help build trust among the militaries and defense ministries of the region. The main obstacles to regional capacity are the lack of knowledge and regional coordination.
Initially, all best-practice documents and guides should be translated into the languages of the region in order to increase access to the information. The establishment of a central repository for best practices, lessons learned, and related documents could provide a forum for information-sharing and collaboration. The development of shared training syllabi and facilities would not only cut costs, but also be an important tool for sharing knowledge and building trust. The region could also consider establishing physical security and stockpile management and conventional weapons destruction as a recurring part of the technical-level conferences held for experts in the region.
