A call against arms: the small arms conference.

• Position: United Nations - Statistical Data Included

War today does not have to be high-tech. Jet bombers or fighters armed with stealth technology and smart bombs need not fly overhead. Armoured tanks and personnel carriers, night vision goggles and global positioning technology are all "nonessential". In reality, a few truckloads of cheap automatic weapons and a handful of light mortars are all a small group of fighters need to rain ruin on a small country, not only impacting the lives of millions of people but also endangering international peace and security.

Of the 49 major conflicts fought during the 1990s, small arms were the weapons of choice in all but three. A best-guess estimate puts the total of small arms and light weapons in the world at more than 500 million, of which between 40 and 60 per cent are illicit. Of the 4 million war-related deaths during that decade, 90 per cent were civilians--80 per cent of those women and children. Tens of millions more lost livelihoods, homes and family, because of the indiscriminate and pervasive use of these weapons.

One of the major problems connected with such weapons is their easy and widespread availability in many parts of the world. They are cheap, lethal, portable, concealable, long lasting and so easy to operate that pre-teenagers can--and do--use them in combat. They are illicitly trafficked in exchange for hard currency and goods, such as diamonds and other precious gems, drugs and related contraband. Armed gangs, criminals, mercenaries and terrorist groups illegally traffic and use these weapons.

The international community has come to recognize that the excessive accumulation and illicit trafficking of those weapons are a global threat to peace and security. Small arms fuel conflicts and pose serious danger to innocent civilians, as well as to humanitarian workers and peacekeepers. Concerted action to end this scourge is more important than ever.

Faced with the death and devastation caused by the flood of small arms and light weapons, the international community has begun to look for new global measures to combat their excessive and destabilizing accumulation. That is why the General Assembly in December 1999 decided to convene a conference on the illicit trade in small arms. First proposed in 1997 by a panel of governmental small arms experts, the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects took place from 9 to 20 July 2001 in New York, and a consensus programme of action was...