It’s been a week of listening intently on the discussion among states on the issue of small arms transfer at the small arms meeting in Geneva. It occured to me, the logic is really simple – when you continuously pour water in a glass, it overflows. Or expressed in another way, ‘we just can take as much water or food and eventually we will throw up’. While we could argue, ‘yeah our body needs nourishment and so forth in order to survive we just can take as long as our body could handle it. While arms producers all over the world continuously produce and transfer these weapons to places in unbelievable pace, eventually we would be awash with weapons and eventually throw up.
Geneva -- About 111 states responded to an invitation by
the government of Canada to discuss further transfer control principles
for small arms and light weapons.
The informal meeting is viewed to be a complementary effort in the
implementation of the UN Programme of Action (UNPoA) on small arms
and light weapons agreed in 2001. The Canadian-led informal meeting of states aims to exchange information, review
existing documents and mechanisms, learn about best practices and
principles from other parts of the world on the issue of small arms
transfer control.
Nonviolence International Southeast Asia joins 23 other non-government
organizations in the week-long meeting. Regional Representative Fred
Ferrariz Lubang made an intervention in the plenary session encouraging
Asia-Pacific states to express challenges faced by the states in the
region in their efforts to control small arms transfers to enrich the
discussions towards more cooperation.
"This meeting is a good opportunity for Asia-Pacific states to learn from
the experiences from Latin America, Africa and the European Union who
have regional instruments on arms transfer control, taking into
consideration that there is no existing regional mechanism in south asia,
southeast asia or in Asia-Pacific region", Lubang stressed.
Delegates from the Asia-Pacific region include representatives from
Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Nepal,
New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The meeting is viewed by civil society as a crucial meeting gaining
momentum towards a number of developments -- the UN First Committee
meetings in October 2007, the formation of the Governmental Group of
Experts based on the UN General Assembly resolution in 2006 laying the
ground for an Arms Trade Treaty and the Biennial Meeting of States on
the UNPoA next year.
The Control Arms campaign: Oxfam International, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)
Campaigners around the world are celebrating a significant victory after more than 80 governments participated in the UN consultation process on an Arms Trade Treaty.
The arms trade has no effective global controls at present. The proposed treaty would establish global standards that could save thousands of lives and hold irresponsible arms dealers accountable for their actions.
Speaking earlier this month at a conference in New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirmed the proposed treaty would establish common international standards for the import, export and transfer of all conventional arms. The treaty would make a major contribution to the attainment of humanitarian, human rights and development objectives worldwide, he said.
The UN Secretary General’s consultation has started on an Arms Trade Treaty and the deadline for government responses will most likely be by the end of June 2007. The People’s Consultation Thailand will parallel this process; with consultations across the country taking place in April 2007.
These consultations will be meaningful and substantial discussions on the content of an Arms Trade Treaty, from the community level to the national level. Nonviolence International Southeast Asia (NISEA) and its partners will be submitting Thai people’s opinion on the content of an Arms Trade Treaty. Our network members in the Philippines and Cambodia are also conducting their National People’s Consultation. People and communities across Southeast Asia will be able to show governments their demands for tougher international arms control.
We hope that the People’s Consultations will encourage governments to participate and provide a strong and meaningful response to the Secretary General’s consultation. It is now time to control a global problem with a global treaty! Have your say!
If your organization, school or group would like to get involved with the Thai People's Consultation please contact us at for further details.
