IANSA members are urging governments not only to include the key issues left out in 2001 in the outcome document of the Review Conference in June, but also to strengthen some of the existing provisions.
For example, in the PoA, states agreed to ensure that small arms transfers were consistent with their existing responsibilities under relevant international law. But there is no shared understanding of what these responsibilities are. Therefore IANSA urges governments to adopt a set of global principles for arms transfers, based on international law, in order to close the legal loopholes exploited by arms dealers.
IANSA is also urging governments to move swiftly towards negotiations for a legally-binding instrument to control arms brokers, wherever they operate.
The current preparatory meeting this January must lay the foundations for this progress. It must ensure that:
- the agenda for the Review Conference is open for discussion of all issues related to gun proliferation;
- non-governmental organisations can participate fully in the meeting, so that the voices of those who are dealing with the daily reality of gun violence are heard;
- decision-making is by vote rather than consensus, so that the tiny minority of states opposed to further controls on gun proliferation no longer have power of veto.
Click here for a summary of the NGO presentations on the UN website. |
