Dominique Dye, junior researcher, Arms Management Programme, ISS Pretoria

A Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence took place from the 15th to the 21st of June 2009. The annual campaign aims to draw attention to the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons worldwide, and to lobby for stricter controls over arms and the arms trade.

More than 80 countries took part in the 2009 campaign - carrying out various activities, including radio interviews and debates, press conferences, and civil society meetings. While numerous events were held, these seem to be focussed more on talk than action.

The arms trade treaty (ATT) initiative was a major focus area of this year’s campaign, with many government, civil society and international organisations advocating for its development. The ATT initiative calls for the establishment of common international standards to regulate the legal arms trade to ensure more responsible arms transfers by preventing weapons transfers to conflict zones where they might contribute to further instability and human rights abuses. There have been several reports of supposedly legal arms transfers that have been rumoured to be destined for countries in conflict or with high crime rates. These include transfers to South Africa, Kenya, and more recently to Equatorial Guinea.

While states have a legitimate right to procure arms to maintain their national security, arms flows to conflict zones or countries that experience high crime rates can contribute to escalating and prolonging armed violence. The envisaged principles of an ATT would aim to, amongst other things, enforce stricter regulations over arms transfers to ensure that states’ obligations under international law, humanitarian law and UN arms embargoes are respected. African countries have for the most part shown considerable support for an ATT and if such a treaty is successfully negotiated and implemented, it may hold many benefits for the continent.

Apart from the global week of action, several other campaigns and initiatives are being carried out to promote and advance the ATT initiative. The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), with the support of some civil society organisations, launched a project in 2009 to promote discussions and increase participation from all stakeholders in the ATT process. The project involves hosting regional seminars to facilitate the exchange of views between governments, regional organisations and civil society groups, with the intent of national and regional views then being integrated into the international process to develop an ATT. The first of these seminars was held in April this year in Dakar, Senegal, for Central, Northern and West African countries.

A report was released at the end of last year by a group of governmental experts (GGE) tasked to assess the feasibility, scope and draft parameters of an ATT. The report stated that there were differing views amongst participants on an ATT, and ‘also recognised that numerous unresolved issues in the global conventional arms trade required further discussion’. To facilitate further development of the initiative, an open-ended working group (OEWG) was established this year. The group is tasked with considering certain elements of the GGE report to assess where further consensus could be developed for inclusion of these elements into an eventual ATT. The OEWG met for a first substantive session in New York in March this year and is preparing to meet for a second session from the 13 - 17 July.

While support for the development of an ATT has been significant, actual negotiations on the details and parameters of a treaty need to take place, and these are likely to be lengthy and complex. Little progress was made at the first substantive meeting of the OEWG, so it is yet to be seen whether the group will be able to develop any consensus on the scope, feasibility and parameters for a treaty and forward the ATT process.