The world must seize every opportunity to reverse the global proliferation of small arms and light weapons, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday at a ministerial meeting of the Security Council. "Small arms and light weapons are primary tools of violence in many conflicts taking place in the world," he said. "Our larger efforts to promote peace and security -- whether through conflict prevention, development, diplomacy or, when necessary, intervention -- depend to a great extent on how we tackle the smaller, more specific challenges of limiting tools of war and violence."

Council Calls For Control Of Small Arms At its "first-ever ministerial meeting on the problem," the Security Council called Friday for measures to discourage flows of small arms to countries in conflict. In a statement, the Council "underlined the vital importance of effective national regulations and controls on small arms transfers, emphasizing that the prevention of illicit trafficking is of immediate concern."

To help countries dispose of weapons "that have been surrendered," the council asked Annan to develop a reference manual on ecologically safe methods of weapon destruction (UN Newservice, 27 Sep). The council also called for "effective implementation" of its arms embargoes; asked exporting countries "to exercise the highest degree of responsibility" in regulating the legitimate trade in weapons; and welcomed Switzerland's offer to host a conference on the subject in 2001.

The biggest arms exporters told the Security Council they would cooperate in efforts to halt the illegal trade, reports Agence France-Press.

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said estimates of the number of small arms worldwide range from 100 million to 500 million. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the United States, which conducts about half the global trade in weapons of all kinds, would "refrain from selling arms to regions of conflict not already covered by arms embargoes" (Robert Holloway, Agence France-Presse, 25 Sep).

Click here for Annan's complete address to the Security Council.
You can also download the complete address in .pdf form here.