States elected Ambassador Dalius Cekuolis of Lithuania
to chair the third biennial meeting.
Election of Other Officers
In accordance with previous consultations, states elected
the following delegations as vice-chairs:
Africa: Egypt, Liberia, Sudan
Asia: Japan, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka
Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Czech Republic
Latin America: Colombia, El Salvador, Trinidad and
Tobago
Western Europe: Finland, The Netherlands, Switzerland
Adoption of the Agenda
Ambassador Cekuolis explained the program of work, which
provided for interactive discussions on select themes, including:
International cooperation, assistance, and national
capacity-building;
Stockpile management and surplus disposal;
Illicit brokering in small arms and light weapons;
and
Marking and tracing.
Prior to the adoption of the agenda, Mexico expressed
doubt over the themes selected and expressed surprise that
certain themes, such as monitoring and humanitarian issues,
were left out despite the known priorities of several delegations.
The Mexican delegation faulted the consultation process
leading to the formulation of the agenda, noting the consultations
resulted in minimal change to the original draft.
States adopted the agenda for third biennial meeting by
consensus.
Program of Work: Drafting the Final Document
The chair will provide draft outcome document language
for each thematic topic on the evening immediately following
discussion of that item.
Highlights from the discussion on
international cooperation, assistance, and national capacity-building:
Australia
said state reports should form the basis of matching states
needs to donors, noting, however, that lack of national
capacity could hinder the adequate completion of reports.
Brazil said international assistance must not be conditioned
on national reporting.
proposed that a one-page survey be included in national
reports in order to facilitate matching needs to available
resources.
said the strengthening of international assistance should
be a priority, emphasizing the need for increased country-specific
programs, development of long-term national plans, and UN
coordination of assistance.
The suggested regional and sub-regional organizations
could be more effective by focusing on smaller projects.
The United Kingdom also suggested the creation of regional
working groups, which could meet on specific issues and
report back to the biennial meetings.
Colombia
called for action-oriented measures to be reflected in the
final document, including in the areas of harmonizing legislation,
building national capacity through trainings of officials
and strengthening border controls, and strengthening international
cooperation and exchange of information.
called for the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs to establish
a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the Programme
of Action in West Africa, in coordination with the Economic
Community of West African States.
opposed any precondition for assistance and stated
capacity-building must form the cornerstone of matching
donors to needs.
said national reporting must not become a precondition for
assistance.
Canada called for the development of national strategies
to address the gap in matching needs to resources, with
emphasis on the role of regional organization and national
reporting.
Iran called for the biennial meeting of states to address
the issue of barriers to access of technology related to
combating the illicit transfers small arms and light weapons.
Summary of the interactive discussion
over the UNIDIR study on international cooperation and assistance
under the Programme of Action:
UNIDIR
presented findings from its global survey of the implementation
of the Programme of Action over its first five years. UNIDIR
determined that over this period states allocated $660 million
in assistance to support implementation, most of which went
to disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs.
Japan asked if there was a mismatch between donors
and the needs of recipients or whether there is a lack of
resources from donor countries. Japan also asked if the
priority of recipient countries focusing on eliminating
illicit trafficking in small arms or on development.
On the first question, UNIDIR responded that both issues
were a problem, with the total funds spent on assistance
over five years equating to that spent on similar initiatives
in one year, adding that 55% of states did not receive assistance
in their top five areas of priorities. UNIDIR did not have
information on the second question.
New Zealand asked how should states best move forward
with needs assessments in small states. UNIDIR responded
that the way forward was through the creation of national
action plans and baseline surveys and for specific needs
to be communicated up to the international level.
Highlights from the discussion
of other issues:
Stockpile Management
and the
reported on their national implementation of the Programme
of Action.
Illicit Brokering
reiterated its support for an international instrument to
regulate arms brokering.
The Group
of African States called on all member state to consider
the issue of illicit brokering a threat to world peace.
The
advocated for a regional approach to cooperation in dealing
with illicit brokering.
Honduras on behalf of SICA
and Mexico called on all states to work toward a process
toward establishing a legally-binding instrument on brokering.
International Instrument on Tracing
The Philippines
called on arms producing states to comply with the tracing
instrument.
Honduras on behalf of SICA
and Mexico reiterated its support for the instrument.
Other Issues
The and the Philippines
called on arms producing states to ensure that the supply
of small arms and light weapons reached only legitimate
users.
stated the non-legally-binding nature of the UN Programme
of Action constituted a barrier to its implementation. MERCOSUR
also expressed the need for states to address the issues
of ammunition and explosives, achieving a culture of peace
through strengthened cooperation with civil society and
the private sector, and the standardization of end-user
certifications.
The and welcomed the new approach taken by the chair.
stated the arms producing countries were morally and ethically
obligated to play a larger role, citing the external nature
of the issue of illicit arms transfers in the region and
their connection to drug trafficking.
The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs presented its Programme
of Action Implementation Support System: PoA-ISS, www.poa-iss.org.
This system is intended to serve as a “one stop shop”
for anyone working on small arms issues in the UN context.
It provides tools for states, international, regional, and
non-governmental organizations to implement the PoA, bringing
together basic documentation, information on best practices,
an advisory network for national contact points, and project
proposals.
The articulated the need for
states to respect International Humanitarian Law (IHL) when
considering arms transfers. The ICRC has developed a practical
guide to IHL criteria in arms transfers for use by government
officials. The ICRC also argued that increased respect for
law will reduce the vulnerability of people and reduce the
demand for SALW.
UNICEF
outlined several action points important to the successful
outcome of the BMS, including:
promoting a culture of peace;
enhancing coordination and integrate recommendations
from the Secretary-General’s Study on Violence
Against Children into National SALW National Action
Plans and development frameworks;
implement laws in conformity with the Optional Protocol
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed conflict;
ensure DDR programmes pay special attention to the
needs of children;
prioritize an integrated approach to SALW, recognizing
both the demand and supply sides of the small arms nexus;
and
initiate studies on child injuries and death due to
small arms to determine the human cost of SALW violence
and to promote violence prevention and rehabilitation
of child victims.
UN Office for Drugs and Crime indicated it has a comprehensive
approach to increasing member states' implementation of
the Firearms Protocol.
Side Events
Small Arms Survey Ray Acheson, The Small Arms Survey, a project of the Graduate
Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva,
launched its 2008 edition at the conference today. The book,
"Risk and Resilience," examines the problem of diversion
of small arms in relation to stockpiles, surplus disposal,
international transfers, and end-user documentation. It also
analyzes the public health approach to armed violence, noting
that "the public health approach views armed violence
as a phenomenon with identifiable patterns within particular
populations," which makes it "able to focus on small
groups and to design targeted interventions at the local level."
