Sudanese singer Emmanuel Jal, a former child soldier, spoke about his experiences on a panel discussion at the UN Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on small arms, 14-18 July 2008.

Before age 13, Jal had been a soldier for five years in the conflicts of Southern Sudan, before escaping to Kenya where he subsequently developed his career as an internationally acclaimed singer. The proliferation of small arms has created the relatively modern phenomenon of the child soldier. Jal recalls that when he was abducted to be trained as a soldier, his assault rifle was taller than him.

Click here to watch the event on UNTV.

This event on 15 July was part of a series organised by civil society during the BMS. The BMS provides UN member states with an opportunity to share experiences and discuss challenges faced in implementing the 2001 Programme of Action.

At the BMS, the IANSA network calls upon governments to:

• Introduce controls to regulate arms brokering, to prevent arms dealers from avoiding controls by merely moving to one of the 150 countries in which their activities are not regulated.

• Implement the 2005 International Tracing Instrument, to allow weapons recovered from crime scenes or massacres to be traced to the criminal responsible, or at least the last legal owner.

• Review and improve the management of their arsenals, both military and police/security. Since 2001, thousands of people have been killed through explosions at ammunition depots.

• Cooperate with other countries to stop the proliferation of guns and ammunition. To date, the international community has failed to give this problem proper recognition. Each year, landmine action receives 3 times greater funding than gun violence prevention, despite gun violence affecting many more people than landmines.