On Wednesday 25 April, the APPG on the United Nations together with the APPG on the Weapons and Protection of Civilians hosted a vibrant, well-attended parliamentary meeting on the prospects for a strong Arms Trade Treaty. The event, co-chaired by Lord Hannay and Martin Caton MP, saw participation from MPs, Peers, NGOs and members of UNA Youth.
During the meeting, speakers Alistair Burt, Foreign Office Minister for Counter Proliferation, and Anna MacDonald, Head of Arms Control at Oxfam and co-chair of the Control Arms Coalition, outlined their objectives and expectations for negotiations soon to take place on the Arms Trade Treaty at the UN in New York from 2-27 July. Following the meeting, UNA Youth will now submit a set of recommendations for the UK’s negotiating stance in July.
Launched at the APPG meeting, Control Arms UK have published a new paper urging the government and civil society to stay focussed and committed to a strong, effective Arms Trade Treaty: “Stay on Target: Will the UK Fight the Battle for Tough Arms Controls?”
Background
In 2006, an overwhelming majority of UN Member States voted to start work on the creation of a global Arms Trade Treaty. In July 2012 negotiations for the Treaty will take place at the UN in New York.
For more than a decade, non-governmental organisations such as Oxfam, Saferworld, Amnesty International and UNA-UK have campaigned for the creation of a robust treaty with human rights and humanitarian law at its centre.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and as one of the lead countries to champion the need for an Arms Trade Treaty, the UK is in a strong position to use its influence to ensure that an effective treaty emerges from the negotiations in July.
