contrôlez les armes

Governments from over 190 member states have a second chance to make history this month by agreeing the first ever Arms Trade Treaty, a coalition of NGOs and human rights groups said today.

Arms and bullets continue to destroy lives. Every continent in the world is marred by devastation caused by armed violence.

Draft Arms Trade Treaty text littered with loopholes which need fixing urgently to save lives.

Governments pass UN resolution to hold major diplomatic conference next year with an unprecedented 157 'yes' votes, including China for the first time, 18 abstentions & 0 votes against.

A major diplomatic negotiation aiming to regulate the trade in weapons and ammunition is at risk of failing due to member states’ insistence to give every state the right to veto a future treaty, according to the Control Arms coalition.

Political leaders have a historic opportunity to place human rights and humanitarian aims above self-interest and profit when final negotiations to regulate the global arms trade begin today at the United Nations, campaigners from across the world said.

The prospective new international Arms Trade Treaty must regulate the sale of parts and components being used to maintain or manufacture deadly weapons and military equipment, according to a new report by Oxfam.

Modern weapons and military equipment cannot be made or maintained without parts and components that are sourced and traded around the world.

The poorly regulated global trade in arms and ammunition weakens the ability and willingness of governments to sustain progress in development.

Global sales of ammunition are worth more than $4 billion and are growing at a faster rate than trade in guns, yet there is virtually no regulation in place to control where the bullets end up.