A Bulletproof Treaty

The last week of July was a pretty big deal; it marked the end of the first two weeks of negotiation on the Arms Trade Treaty at the UN in New York. This was a significant moment for the Control Arms Campaign who have been campaigning since 2003 on what was once a far-fetched idea amongst the NGO community and has now resulted in a major UN treaty process.

More than 1000 people die each day as a direct consequence of armed violence.

76 countries now manufacture small arms ammunition

There are around half a billion military small arms around the world

Shocking hey? What's even more surprising is that despite this suffering and poverty fuelled by irresponsible arms transfers, there is still no comprehensive, binding international treaty on the trade in conventional arms. States and governments are free to buy and trade weaponry as they like even when they know arms may be used to perpetrate human rights violations, terrorism or to exacerbate armed conflict.

So that's why July 22nd was a pretty big deal; it marked the end of the first two weeks of negotiation on the Arms Trade Treaty at the UN in New York. This was a significant moment for the Control Arms Campaign who have been campaigning since 2003 on what was once a far-fetched idea amongst the NGO community and has now resulted in a major UN treaty process.

The Control Arms Campaign, run by Oxfam International, Amnesty International and IANSA, is calling for an Arms Trade Treaty based on five key points. The Treaty will prevent international transfer of arms where they could contribute to violations of international humanitarian or human rights law, undermine sustainable development, provoke or exacerbate armed conflict, contribute to an existing pattern of violent crime, or to terrorism.

"We need a Treaty that covers all arms - everything from small arms to helicopters to tanks, and their ammunition and components.  And we need common procedures so that all international arms transfers are rigorously assessed to keep arms out of the hands of human rights abusers, and away from places where they will fuel conflict and human suffering," commented Seydi Gassama Director Amnesty International, Senegal Arms Control Manager at Amnesty International.

As part of the campaign a film competition called Shooting Poverty is raising awareness of the impact of violence through engaging young filmmakers from the global south. Three winning projects have been selected to receive financial and hands-on production support to turn their idea into a short documentary film by October 2010. These are ‘Bang for your Buck' by a Burundi based team, "Grosso Calibre" from Rio de Janeiro, and "April 6th" from Manipur, India. All are very different and provide unique perspectives on the impact of armed violence on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people across the globe.

"The world is one step closer to have a Treaty that will make it harder for war mongers and human rights abusers to obtain weapons and ammunition. A great deal of preparation is now needed by States before the next UN ATT meeting in March 2011 to ensure they deliver a "bulletproof" Treaty that will save and protect lives and livelihoods," said Anna MacDonald, head of Control Arms at Oxfam.