After much preliminary investigation
in to impact of small arms on civilians and societies around
the world, the United Nations convened
a Conference on the Illicit Trade of Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its
Aspects in July 2001. The purpose of the conference was to decide on steps nations
should take to prevent the illicit trade in small arms. Non-governmental organizations,
under the umbrella of IANSA, along with other groups, took a prominent role in
the conference, presenting evidence on the difficulty in separating legal and
illegal transfers, and calling for tough controls on both state and non-state
weapons sellers. The result of the 2001 conference was a Programme of Action to
Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons
in All Its Aspects. Under the UN Programme of Action, every country has committed itself to:
- Make illicit gun production/possession a criminal offence
- Establish a national coordination agency
on small arms
- Identify and destroy stocks of surplus weapons
- Keep track of officially-held guns
- Issue end-user certificates for exports/transit
- Notify the original supplier nation of re-export
- Disarmament, Demobilisation & Re-integration
(DDR) of ex-combatants, including collection and destruction
of their
weapons
- Support regional agreements and encourage moratoria
- Mark guns at point of manufacture for identification and tracing
- Maintain records of gun manufacture
- Engage in more information exchange
- Ensure better enforcement of arms embargoes
- Include civil society organisations in
efforts to prevent small arms
proliferation
The Programme of Action does not:
- Mention human rights
- Indicate how to regulate small arms in the civilian population
- Mention the problem of arms transfers to non-state actors
- Mention the misuse of guns by state officials
- Define "adequate laws" or "existing responsibilities under international law"
- Recognise the gendered nature of gun misuse and injury
- Recognise the role of the public health community in helping to solve the problem
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