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UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in
Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects
New York, 2001
Conference Information
Conference overview
Background information
BASIC's News and Analysis
Key Conference Documents
IANSA Conference Calendar of Events
Background Information
BITING THE BULLET: Project
& Briefings
Bottom-Line
Issues A concise description of the core issues that
the UN conference must address if it is to be a success. Included
are bottom-line recommendations which the international community
must agree if it is to begin to effectively combat the illicit
trade in small arms. (In Adobe PDF format only)
Putting Children First: Building a Framework
for International Action to Address the Impact of Small Arms
on Children The Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and International Trade (DFAIT) and the Biting the Bullet
project will launch a major report on July 11. Read the press release for the report's launch.
Press Releases
Links
Additional UN 2001 Conference
Resources
"Biting the Bullet"
Project Description
BASIC, together with International Alert and Saferworld,
has initiated the Biting the Bullet project
which is aimed at ensuring the UN 2001 Conference results
in a comprehensive action programme enabling the international
community to implement effective measures to prevent and reduce
the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons.
Our "Biting the Bullet" briefings are an essential resource for understanding
the supply and demand aspects of the small arms and light
weapons trade.
In developing this project, the Biting
the Bullet partners understand that there is at present
no international consensus as to whether the UN 2001 Conference
should extend its focus beyond just combating criminal trafficking
and manufacturing activities. The partners believe that this
approach has been too narrow. After much consideration, the
UN Group of Experts arrived at consensus recommendations on
the objectives and scope of the UN 2001 Conference, which
do provide a substantially broader agenda for the negotiations.
A core part of this project will focus on promoting
international acceptance of the agenda recommended by the
UN Group of Experts, and identifying and working for the adoption
of strong agreements within this framework. The project also
will seek to expand the agenda and raise awareness of other
key issues around which there is, as yet, no international
consensus, but which are nevertheless important elements of
any comprehensive action programme for tackling small arms
and light weapons proliferation (e.g. transparency and accountability
in arms transfers and security sector reform, among others).
By publishing a series of regular, concise and
timely research/analysis papers and hosting a variety of round-tables,
seminars and larger conferences, the project partners seek
to:
-
Broaden and develop the scope of policy
discussions during the Prep Coms and the Conference;
-
Encourage and enhance substantive governmental
and non-governmental participation in the Conference debate,
in particular from traditionally under-represented regions;
-
Secure the interest of a global network
of parliamentarians, NGOs and journalists in the UN 2001
proceedings and encourage them to take up small arms and
light weapons-related issues in dialogue with UN member
governments;
-
Facilitate the identification of common
ground on normative issues amongst a large number of governments
and the development of a "critical mass" of governments
around key substantive issues.
"Biting the Bullet" Briefings
#1. Framework Briefing: The
UN 2001 Conference; Setting the Agenda
#2. Regional Initiatives and the UN
2001 Conference: Building Mutual Support and Complementarity
#3. Stockpile Security and Reducing
Surplus Weapons
#4. The UN Firearms Protocol:
Considerations for the UN 2001 Conference
#5. Enhancing Traceability of Small
Arms and Light Weapons Flows: Developing an International
Marking and Tracing Regime
#6. Combating the Illicit
Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons: Enhancing Controls
on Legal Transfers
#7. Combating the Illicit
Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons: Strengthening Domestic
Regulations
#8. Controlling Arms
Brokering and Transport Agents: Time for International Action
#9. Information Exchange
and Transparency: Key Elements of an International Action
Programme on Small Arms
#10. Private Military
and Security Companies and the Proliferation of Small Arms:
Regulating the Actors
#11. Putting Children
First: Building a Framework for International Action to Address
the Impact of Small Arms on Children
#12. Reducing the Stock
of the Illicit Trade: Promoting Best Practice in Weapons Collection
Programmes
#13. Building Comprehensive
Controls on Small Arms Manufacturing, Transfer, and End Use
Putting Children
First - Background Report
#15. Implementing the
UN Action Programme for Combating the Illicit Trafficking
in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects
Conference Overview
The UN General Assembly decided in December
1999 to convene the United Nations Conference on the Illicit
Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects [A/RES/54/54 V] in June/July
2001. The Assembly established a Preparatory Committee and
requested it to recommend to the Conference a draft final
document which will include a Programme of Action. The conference
is now scheduled to be held in New York from 9-20 July 2001.
Why is the conference important?
The conference is important because it places small arms issues
firmly on the international agenda. It offers an opportunity
for governments to develop an action programme, which could
involve the agreement of legal or political standards.
In addition, the title of the conference is
more significant than it may first appear. The fact that its
mandate is to look at the illicit trade "in all its aspects"
opens an important window of opportunity for NGOs and governments
to use this conference as a vehicle for international discussions
on a wide range of issues that can be linked to the
illegal trade in any way. For example, it could be
argued that this conference should develop concrete procedures
on the following measures:
-
Controls on legal transfers and possession
of small arms
-
Collection and destruction programmes
-
Security and management of state stockpiles
-
Tighter monitoring of arms brokers
-
Enhancing state transparency and accountability
-
Capacity building and security sector reform
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