Disarmament

An effective arms trade treaty was an “opportunity to sow the seeds of durable peace and spark hope among millions that violence and conflict can be overcome,” the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty heard today as it continued its month-long session in New York. “The world can no longer wait for much-needed regulation of the trade of conventional weapons,” declared the representative of Costa Rica in a statement to the Conference.

The absence of global conventional arms regulations was “a disgrace” in an over-armed world where peace was under-funded, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told delegates today after opening the highly anticipated month-long United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, stalled yesterday and throughout much of today, owing to wrangling over the meeting’s rules of procedure.

The United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty — the most important initiative ever within this organization in the field of arms regulation — opens today at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Scheduled to run through 27 July, the Conference, the first of its kind, aims to elaborate a legally binding instrument on the highest possible common international standards for the transfer of conventional arms.

A total of 12 young artists have been announced as winners in the United Nations Art for Peace contest, which ran from 1 February to 30 April and attracted 6,623 entries from 92 countries.

On 21-22 June 2012, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) will convene a Round Table on Combating Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons through Strengthened Border Controls. The Round Table will be held in collaboration with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, and with the support of Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The dedicated United Nations website on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) negotiations went live on 7 June: www.un.org/disarmament/ATT/.

NEW YORK, 4 June (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — A regional workshop on implementing United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) will be hosted by the Government of Lithuania in Vilnius from 5 to 6 June.

In May 2012, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) provided a set of small arms destruction equipment to the Dominican Republic and trained national officers on the use of the equipment. These activities aim to strengthen the capacity of the Dominican Republic to combat the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons nationally, as well as in the Caribbean region.

NEW YORK, 30 May, Office for Disarmament Affairs — In May, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, provided a set of small arms destruction equipment to Belize and trained national officers on the use of the equipment.

NEW YORK, 25 May, Office for Disarmament Affairs — The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) this month provided a set of small arms destruction equipment to Trinidad and Tobago, and trained national officers on the use of the equipment.