Can sources and supplies of small arms and light weapons be traced?

AuthorA. Staehelin, Jeno C.
PositionUnited Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects - Brief Article

The widespread availability and misuse of small arms and light weapons, particularly in regions of internal conflict and civil war, pose not only a serious threat to regional security and stability; but also cause human suffering of civilians, particularly women and children as the most vulnerable group within societies. Large accumulation and uncontrolled flows of these weapons intensify, escalate and prolong conflicts, contribute to crime and foster a culture of violence. They impede post-conflict reconstruction and peace-building, and thus reduce the prospects for sustainable socio-economic development.

In recent years, there has been increasing awareness of the need to prevent uncontrolled flows of small arms and light weapons into regions of conflict, and reduce excessive and destabilizing accumulation.

Significant surpluses and insecurely managed stockpiles, which are particularly vulnerable to loss through theft, corruption or neglect, contribute to a great extent to the widespread availability of these weapons.

In the preparatory process leading to the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, to be held from 9 to 20July 2001 in New York, the Governments of France and Switzerland have launched a proposal to address the specific problem of tracing the flows of small arms of concern. The lack of institutionalized mechanisms to identify and trace the sources and lines of supply undermines States' efforts to find how these weapons of concern have made their way to, or how they have been lost within, regions of conflict. prevent these weapons from falling into the wrong hands, the international community has great difficulty in breaking the spiral of supply and demand.

France and Switzerland are convinced of the need for an international mechanism to enable effective cooperation in tracing sources and flows of these weapons of concern. The common initiative aims at contributing to the process of developing such an international instrument, which would form a key element of the programme of action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, to be established at the July Conference.

The French-Swiss initiative aims to strengthen the ability of States to take effective action to prevent or reduce small arms and light weapons flows that contribute to their excessive and destabilizing accumulation and spread, particularly in regions of...

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