May 20, 2022.
In this briefing paper, IANSA outlines the main ways that small arms, light weapons (SALW) and their ammunition are diverted to unauthorised users, unauthorised uses and to the illicit markets, thereby fuelling armed violence, conflict, crime and a wide range of human suffering and harm. Further below, IANSA sets out ten broad clusters of good practice standards which States can use as a starting point to assess whether their laws, policies and practices are sufficiently robust to prevent incidents of SALW diversion.
The Ten Goals to Prevent Diversion of SALW are largely derived from the Modular Small-Arms-Control Implementation Compendium (MOSAIC) which was developed by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and other UN agencies over a decade of coordinated work. The modules reflect good practice standards and key obligations from international instruments on SALW control, and they constitute an invaluable set of guidance for the policies that civil society should advocate to their governments.
IANSA is calling on all States to take action to achieve all of these goals and ensure they are robustly implemented so that irresponsible transfers and diversions of small arms and light weapons to unauthorized users can be prevented.